Surpassing Bad Memories
by Aition
Summary: Better explanation inside. Mikan never followed Hotaru. A year later her grandfather dies. Mikan goes Missing. She turns up 5 years later bloodstained and bruised outside of Gakuen Alice. What happend in those missing four years? Rated T for language.M/N
1. Captured?

**Mikan was never found out, because she never actually made it to Tokyo. Her father caught her out. But, she never forgot about her best friend. A year after Hotaru left, on Mikan's eleventh birthday, her grandfather passed away. Because of this, Mikan was cast out on the street with her small saving, at the age of 11, still the same girl just homeless. Four years later, Narumi comes back from a two week holiday to find her sleeping somewhat peacefully outside of the academy gates. What happened to Mikan during those four years? Read on, and find out...**

_**New character profiles:**_

**Dangerous Abilities Class:**

Name: Akira Yugi:  
Alice: Immobilisation, art, pain  
Age: 15  
Star Rank: Double

Name: Hotori Hirameshi  
Alice: Transformation, teleportation  
Age: 17  
Star Rank: Triple

Name: Yusuke Taisho  
Alice: Soul sucking  
Age: 16  
Star Rank: Triple

**1**

Narumi walked down the street as casually as ever, feeling a strange sense of relief at being back at the academy. He hoped that Fukutan had survived his vacation. Being a middle-school teacher for a bunch of kids with special powers was nothing to take lightly, and Fukutan just wasn't strong enough to deal with the incredible task.

Some distance ahead, something caught his eye. Next to the Academy gates, a heap of garbage lay neatly bundled in a torn up black jacket. From the distance he was at he couldn't be sure, but the jacket seemed a little expensive to be left laying around so carelessly.

Arriving at the heap of trash, Narumi frowned in shock and confusion. It was not a heap of trash, but a sleeping girl, probably around the age of 15. "Odd," he muttered, about to make his way around her when she coughed and rolled slightly, her arm tumbling onto the path to reveal fresh dripping blood. "Odder." He declared, placing his pack on the ground and calling for a car before approaching the body carefully.

Had she not coughed and twitched a few moments earlier, he'd have taken her for dead. Examining her arm, he saw the blood was flowing from a 10cm long cut on her forearm. It was hard to tell what made to cut and how clean it was, but it was obviously deep. She must have lost a lot of blood.

He tapped her in the face, attempting to wake her. She groaned and coughed, tiny specks of blood stuck to Narumi's clean white glove. This caused even more concern: She was bleeding internally, too. _What on earth happened to this girl?_ He questioned himself, to afraid to move her body. She could have had spinal injuries, it wasn't safe. He was glad to have called Subaru, hopefully he'd be able to heal her at least a little.

As if on cue, Subaru came to a stop, waiting for the gates to open before driving out a little further. He noticed Narumi crouching over something on the ground, but couldn't see what it was. Of course, the moment he was out of the car, the girl's body became quite visible.

"What happened to her?" Subaru demanded, placing a hand on her arm to heal the cut, stopping the blood.

"I don't know, I thought she was a heap of trash at first. She coughed up blood just a moment ago, can you fix that?" Narumi said.

Subaru shook his head. "Not unless I know what's causing the bleeding. Does she have an Alice? Is she a student?" Subaru was 23 now, and had accepted a job at the school as a doctor. He knew most of the students faces, and was positive he hadn't seen this girl before.

"I don't know if she's got an Alice, but it doesn't matter. Let's get her inside to the hospital, before she dies." Narumi said, lifting her up while Subaru tossed his bags in the boot. Moments after laying her down in the backseat to took off towards the hospital, tyres screeching as Subaru hit the brakes.

It'd been four days since the girl had been brought to hospital, and so far her recovery had been successful. Subaru had come to believe she wasn't waking up because of either 1, after taking the beating, her body locked itself down for protection, 2, she was in some sort of a coma, or 3, she was exhausted.

The internal bleeding was caused from bruised tissues and damaged lungs; judging by the bruises all over her body she'd been beaten with something like a metal pipe. She was cut on her arm, and on her right thigh, very deeply. The cuts had been made by some sort of blade, like a fine sword, or possibly a razor.

After she was treated, principle Kazu Yukihira of the high school division came to inspect her, checking for an Alice. Something seemed to be blocking his reading a little, which he believed to be nullification. But there was something else, something stronger and more powerful that she seemed to be working very hard to keep secret from him.

But, nevertheless, she had an Alice, and therefore she would become a student. They were guessing at her age but not making any certainties, so both the middle school and high school were informed about a possible transfer student.

Back at her room, the girl gasped as her eyes snapped open, but she remained totally still as she surveyed the room to check for intruders. While doing so, she noticed that she was in a white room that had a one small window that was closed with the curtains shut, and a long mirror along the other wall. _One sided mirror!_ She determined, slinging herself into a sitting position.

She cringed, waiting for pain to strike to find nothing. "Huh?" she mumbled, examining her unscathed arm. "No... Cut? Not even a scar..." she muttered, pushing the blanket back to find the cut of her thigh was fine to. Frowning in frustration, she pulled up her hospital dress to check her torso, searching desperately for evidence of her brutal beating.

"Ah... where am I?" she asked herself, worried. Panic washed over her as the worst possible scenario she could think up popped to mind: "They found me..." she whispered, pulling the blanket back up over her body and closing her eyes. _Fools, to leave me alone unguarded._ She smirked mentally. _I'll take a hostage and make a break, I remember all the passageways. _She thought smugly. Clearly, they'd once more underestimated her.

She was growing quickly impatient with her lack of attendance: When would they send someone to check on her? What if she actually fell asleep and missed her chance? Just as she was about to let her panicking get the best of her, the door creaked open, and footsteps were heard approaching her bed.

She waited to pounce, impatiently at that. The moment she felt the blankets being pulled away her eyes snapped open and she kicked the intruder in the face, sending him into the one way mirror, which shattered on top of him. The girl scolded herself, hoping she hadn't killed her only hostage.

Dragging him away from the glass she pushed him onto the bed after dusting the glass shards off of him. Reaching into her bra, she was dismayed to find her pocket knife gone. The hostage was unconscious, but he had a heartbeat, so she guessed he was alive.

She used the thin hospital blanket to tie his legs together, then she bound his wrists behind his back. She then climbed on top of him, pressing her knees into his shoulder blades in a way she knew would leave his arms immobile. She then slapped him, trying to wake him up. How would she get answers if he remained unconscious?

After a few worrisome seconds, he groaned and came too, instantly trying to move. "Stay still and don't scream and I won't kill you. You're going to answer my questions. Say 'yes' if you understand, and say 'no' if you'd like me to dislocate your arms. Answer now."

The man cleared his voice, and then in a very cautious voice, he said, "Maybe," This irritated the girl, so she broke two of his fingers before repeating her last statement. "Yes." He choked out, trying not to call out in pain.

"Where am I?" She asked, starting with the basics. She was suddenly very concerned about being at a normal Tokyo hospital, having just assaulted an innocent doctor.

"Gakuen Alice." He said immediately, trying not to displease her.

"Eh?" she frowned, thinking back to previous conversations. "The school for Alice kids. Crap. How did you people find me?" she demanded, pushing her knees into his back harder.

"You were found unconscious outside the gates, a teacher tried to save you. That's why—,"

"What?" she snapped, pushing harder. "Why I'm still _alive_? Don't try to bribe me, punk." she hissed, her temper flaring. "Show me the joy in that, being alive, and I'll let you go right now while I skip off merrily to celebrate my miraculous recovery." She snapped.

"S-sorry," he stuttered, tears in his voice. "We were just trying to help." He whispered, his voice quivering with fear and pain.

The girl blinked and jumped off of him, but leaving him bound by the sheets. She suddenly felt horrible, although she remained stoic and emotionless. It took her just moments to regain her anger and worry. "I'm leaving." She stated calmly, noting the clothing piled neatly on the wooden chair near the window. "Perv on me, and I'll kill you without hesitation." She said icily, stripping herself of the hospital gown.

The instant she got to the clothes it became obvious that they were not hers. It was a uniform. "A uniform?" She mumbled, picking up the blazer and holding it against herself to find it was the perfect fit. "What the hell is this?" she snapped, spinning around to see the room was now full of students wearing masks. After closer inspection, she realized they were all male, and remembered she'd just torn her hospital dress off.

An icy, awkward silence filled the air. What should she do? Smash the window and make a run for it in her underwear? Stay and fight all the mask wearing boys? Or give up? She stood perfectly still like a statue, the blazer clasped tightly in her left hand while she lifted the other in an attempt to cover herself. The boys also stood still, in awe of her flawless body.

Reaching a conclusion, she created the illusion of smoke and fire before snatching up the uniforms and smashing the window open. As she prepared to jump, cloud white angel-like wings sprouted from her back. But something was wrong. She tried and tried to move her legs, but to no avail. Turning her head she saw the illusion was gone, and a boy with a black highway man mask was holding her shadow.

"You can't keep me here." She said smoothly, smirking evilly. The shadow faltered for a moment, then snapped back to the boy as his hair caught fire. "Don't blame yourselves," she said, climbing onto the window sill. "You're not the first to fail." Her voice remained stiff and emotionless as she leapt from the window. Thrusting her wings, her body was lifted into the air.

Flying onto the roof, she hurried to slip on the blue skirt, followed quickly by the white undershirt. Seeing no use in the blazer, she tossed it aside and pulled on the black boots, then took off into the air once more.

On the ground, students and teachers clustered, while birds began coming out of nowhere. At first she was unconcerned about the animals; they could be no harm. That was, until, a male voice called "Stop her!" and the birds began to fly directly at her.

"Ah... animal pheromone." She realized, deciding she'd avoid killing the birds while the option remained. After successfully avoiding a swarm of birds, she maneuvered around a net and was clasped from the air by a giant eagle, it's claws digging into her shoulders. As she prepared to roast the eagle, a girl on a duck popped out of nowhere, a large net in her hand.

"Got you." She said stiffly, swiping the girl into the net and tying it up. Her wings folded back into her back, and her flames died out. Something was stopping her Alice's. "Alice-Proof net. Don't bother wasting your energy." She stated icily, staring at the girl with a sense of lost recognition.

"Who might you be?" the girl in the net asked calmly, amused and slightly panicked about being caught. She'd never pictured herself in a net, never even considered the situation. Therefore, she had no thoughts on escaping. The net seemed to be made out of two materials, one was metal, the other was a sort of cotton.

"Imai Hotaru. Yourself?" The girl with short black hair and purple eyes answered, eager for an answer.

The girl remained cold and emotionless, her facade never wavering. "Imai Hotaru, I do believe it sounds familiar." She noted, contemplating the safety of giving her name, then deciding against it. "If you don't already know my name, I think I'd rather keep it that way. Saves trouble, gomen (sorry)."

Hotaru didn't complain, though she wasn't pleased. She dropped the net a meter from the ground, but the girl managed to spin herself around and land in a crouched position. Still in the net, they pinned her down, strapping a black band around her neck, wrists and thighs just above the knee.

After that, they released her, allowing her to climb out of the net. She stood up and took in her surroundings, giving the death glare to each set of eyes she met. One boy in particular caught her eye, he was blond and had blue eyes.

"Animal pheromones, huh?" She said clearly, tilting her head to the side slightly to get a better look at him. The boy had no time to reply, however, because another boy in a cat mask shoved him behind him. "Your boyfriends a little pushy, don't you think?" she said in the same clear, cold voice as before.

The boy took off his mask, revealing a devilishly handsome face and burning red eyes; an expression of strong annoyance plastered to his face. Clearly, he was not pleased with her comment. "Come with me, don't cause trouble and there won't be any." He commanded, lighting a fireball in his palm.

The girl raised a delicate eyebrow, her otherwise emotionless face remaining unchanged. "Are you threatening me?" She questioned, mimicking his pose before igniting her own palm sized flame. "Just because I'm a girl, doesn't make me a pushover." Her voice rose slightly, despite her efforts to keep it composed.

A collective breath was taken by the people surrounding her, and a few stepped back. Cat boy however, raised an eyebrow. "Interesting." He stated, noting the static emanating from the choker and other bands placed on her body. "I was under the impression you'd been restricted. Are those bands not electrocuting you? They should be."

She suddenly realized the overwhelming pain trying to swallow her body, that she'd been ignorant to only moments ago. She closed her eyes to try and keep calm, instead of falling to the ground writhing in pain. When she opened her eyes again, the pain remained, but was under control. "Nothing more than static." She said, relieved to find her voice didn't crack with stress, but remained cold and hard, as if she were about to murder someone.

Cat boy noticed her straining, but decided to remain quiet. "You're causing me quite some trouble." He murmured, deep in thought.

"Having trouble with the little girl, Natsume-kun?" A boy with orange hair and blue eyes asked, placing a hand on his shoulder. Natsume shot him a warning glare, and he removed his hand. "Alice control bands, we've never had to use those before. You're the only one who actually used your Alice with them on for testing, and it was only for a minute. Guess that means she's pretty strong, huh?"

"Akira, shut up and make her immobile." Natsume snapped at the orange haired boy, shoving him forward.

"Geez, Natsume-kun, loosen up." He muttered, staring the girl in the eye as he approached, pulling something from his pocket. He quickly put the object around her neck, then released her from his grip. "So what's your name, cutie?" he asked, smiling sweetly.

The girl almost laughed at his innocent expression. "Immobilisation. Thanks, I'd never seen that one before." She said, rewarding him with a small smile. Looking down at her neck, she noticed the small orange stone around her neck, and frowned. "Nullification Alice stone, huh?" she muttered, wondering if it'd actually work on her.

"If that doesn't work, we'll have to knock her out." A boy with short black hair and coal black eyes said, strutting up to the girl like he already owned her. "Pretty little thing, isn't she?" he said, smirking. "Why don't quit playin' hard ta' get 'n' come chill at my dorm this arvo?" he asked, winking as he took a step forward.

Her instant reaction was to set him on fire, and when that didn't work she tried freezing him, only to find that didn't work either. Apparently, that Alice stone had done the trick. Shrugging, she walked up to him, smiling sweetly to ensure he wouldn't run away. For a few shocking seconds, the small crowd of teachers and DAC students thought she was accepting his offer. That is, until she kicked him in the groin and elbowed him in the back of the head with the force of a small truck, cracking the cement. "Maybe when you're out of hospital." She stated icily, wiping her fake seductive smile of her face to reveal a look of pure disgust. "I hate guy's like you."

Akira and Natsume stared for a brief moment, trying to work out if she'd used any Alice, or if that was just her natural strength. "Ah..." Akira started, about to ask her to use her Alice.

"Looks like you were successful, Carrot head. The stone blocked my Alice." Natsume smirked at her comment about his hair, 'carrot head', while Akira silently fumed. "Does that mean you'll drug me and drag me off to some prison cell now? Or do I get to come quietly?" she asked, sighing.

Natsume and Akira frowned, glancing at their unconscious friend. "Yusuke, such an idiot." Natsume muttered, poking him with his foot. "Is he alive?" He asked her, curious to hear the answer.

She nodded her head. "Think so, I didn't get to use my Alice's, so I don't think I could've injured him too badly. His face might be permanently ruined, though." She smiled. "'Spose it's always been that way."

Akira chuckled, forgetting about her Carrot head comment from just moments ago. "I'll take Yusuke to the hospital, you take her to see Hii-sama." He said, hauling Yusuke over his shoulders before bouncing off towards the hospital from which the girl had come.

When he was gone, Natsume turned to her, concerned but not showing it. What if she were faking? He couldn't fail a simple mission like this just because she'd got the better of him. He'd be an embarrassment.

The girl noticed his lack of words and guessed at his mental debating, although she hadn't a clue about what he was debating. "Relax, cat boy. I give. I'm tired, anyway. Let's just go." She said in a voice so different to her cold hard voice that Natsume actually froze, thinking another person had snuck up on him from behind.

She was stretching her arms above her head and _smiling_. It was a sad sort of smile though, like she were remembering things she'd never experience or see again. Natsume couldn't help but notice how much nicer and less threatening she looked when she smiled, and he wondered how often she smiled. It was creepy, in a way, to know that the emotionless girl who'd just threatened to kill a doctor before setting Tsubasa on fire to evade them by leaping out a window, almost burning an endangered species just to get away from the academy, could smile and look so... so _cute._

"Quit staring at me, it's freakin' me out." She muttered, frowning. It took her a moment to realize she'd totally dropped the emotionless facade. "Oh... shit..." she mumbled, her eyes widening a fraction. She cursed herself, her stoic look falling back to place, her previous calm relation disappearing. "You didn't see anything." She threatened, attempting to make a fireball.

Natsume saw and recognized the position of her hand, and realized she really couldn't use her Alice. "Ah, so you weren't faking." He said, relieved. "Right, I didn't see anything, on three conditions..."

She grimaced, once more dropping the facade. "What?" she muttered, accepting defeat.

"What's your name, age, and Alice?" he asked simply, surprising her.

She looked up and smiled brightly. Natsume couldn't help but notice the way her smile seemed to glow and shed light on everything around her. "I'm fifteen, and my Alice's are Nullification and SEC." She said easily.

"SEC? Steal Erase Copy Alice?" he blinked, baffled. That was rare, and it explained how she has using so many different Alice's. She must've copied or stolen them all.

"Right." She said, her smile growing even wider. "My name is Mikan. Sakura Mikan." She said, still smiling brightly.

_Mikan..._ the name burned itself in Natsume's brain, promising to never be forgotten. "Let's go."


	2. Good Memories and an Old Friend

**Big thanks to everyone who read the story, and an even bigger more appreciated thanks to my first reviewers for this story,** michiruchama, Shiro-Tenshi563, Shiriru004, IceGirl7 **!!** **The next chapter is for you all to enjoy, so please do :) Thanks for reading, reviews appreciated!  
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**2**

The next day Natsume sat in his usual seat next to his best friend, Ruka, at the back of the classroom. Narumi was late, yet again, which was no surprise. Beside Ruka sat Hotaru. Next row up sat Sumire, Koko, Anna, Nonoko, and in front of them were Kitsuneme, Wakako, Tobita and Akira.

On the other side of the class room, Nobara sat next to an empty seat that was usually occupied by Yusuke, on the other side sat Mochiage, and the rest of the class were people he didn't care to remember the names of. He and Ruka were sharing an IPod and reading the manga Death Note while waiting for Narumi to come in and annoy them.

He was also curious about whether that new girl that caused all the trouble, Mikan, would be coming to class today. It was hard to determine which self she would come as if she showed up; would she be herself? The bubbly relaxed person he'd seen in the afternoon? Or would she wear her facade, and introduce herself as the stiff, emotionless girl that broke out of a hospital by almost killing an innocent doctor that had previously saved her life?

He'd assumed that was the reason Narumi was so late. Because he thought Narumi would be fetching the new girl and trying to force her into the class room without being killed in the process. It seemed that he had assumed correctly.

"Hello, my dear students!" Narumi called in a bubbly voice that made him sound exceptionally gay. "Today, I'm happy to announce the arrival of a new transfer student!" he declared, clapping his hands together. "Come, Mikan-kun! Introduce yourself properly!" he called to her, while they waited for the door to open.

Natsume watched as she stepped through the door, looking immediately at her face to see it devoid of all emotion, but not cold and heartless like yesterday. It seemed she'd decided to be half herself, and half her facade. "Hi. My name is Sakura Mikan." She said in monotone, glancing around the room to take in all the faces.

Everyone stared at her, silent and in awe at her beautiful waist long brown hair and her molten chocolate eyes. The next thing they noticed was the black bands around her wrists and thighs' and the choker, alongside the two rings she was wearing, one of each point finger. Along with an earring at the top of her ear, and three more matching earrings along the bottom, all in the left and none in the right. It became obvious immediately that they were Alice restrictor, and so it was also recognized that she was strong.

"Any questions for Mikan-kun?" Narumi asked brightly, shoving her forward a little. She shot him a death glare, and he swallowed loudly, a little nervous. Natsume noticed that she no longer had the Alice stone on, and wondered if she could use her Alice now. He pretended to pay no attention, however, and sat reading his managa silently, waiting for questions.

Sumire's hand shot up, and Mikan turned to her, casting her a warning glare, as if to say: _Ask a stupid question and I'll kill you._ "What's your Alice?" she asked.

Mikan thought for a moment, then answered with, "Nullification," she said, observing Sumire's snobby look. Obviously, she thought Mikan's was inferior already. "And SEC." She finished, half smirking at Sumire's newly stunned face.

"Steal, Erase and Copy?" she asked, as if to clarify it. Mikan nodded curtly, unhappy with her stereotyping. Obviously this girl was trying to decide whether Mikan was lame, cool or dangerous. She seemed to be stuck between cool and dangerous, so she asked: "How about your star rank?"

Mikan raised an eyebrow, question her question. Luna turned to Sumire with a malicious smile. "She's a non-star, see her collar?" she said harshly, looking up to catch Mikan's death glare. She smirked and turned back down to her fashion magazine.

Narumi shook his head. "Hii-sama will be deciding between a three star and a Special star based on her work effort and ability to get along with other students today." Narumi turned, scanning the class room for something, or someone. "Would you like to pick a partner?" Narumi asked her, earning another death glare.

"I've no use of a partner. I work alone." She declared, still threatening his life with her eyes as he made a motion to touch her. He realized this was a bad idea, and his he's out stretched hand to scratch his head.

"A partner is just someone who shows you around and explains things, Mikan. When you partner up for any activities, that person will be your partner. When you go to central town, your partner must go with you." He explained, but he glare didn't falter. He glanced around the room and locked onto a spare seat in the back row next to Natsume, and jumped the opportunity. "Natsume-kun will be your partner.

Mikan glanced over and locked eyes with Natsume briefly before noting the seat at the edge of the room, right at the back. "Seating is appropriate." She stated, thinking for a moment. "Fine," she said, grabbing the hand he almost placed on her shoulder. "Do. Not. Touch. Me." She said calmly, turning his arm over to stare accusingly at his hand. "Do you _know_ what could be on your hands? Your _right_ hand, at that, for a male." She snapped, flinging his hand back at him as she strolled over to her seat and plopped down.

Narumi raised an eyebrow, trying to work out what she was talking about with the germs on his right hand, and then it hit him. He flushed with embarrassment and made his retreat after announcing that he had a meeting to attend, so they'd have a free study day; otherwise known as a bludge session.

Mikan stood and walked over to the window, then placed herself on the sill with one knee up while her other leg hung down the wall. She had an IPod in, and was staring at the window with no cares at all. Luna saw the empty seat next to Natsume, along with Sumire. They battled for it, and Sumire won, so Luna sat on the desk between the two of them.

"Poor Natsume," Luna said in a flirtatious voice. "Suck sitting next to that creepy new girl. Is it true that she almost killed a doctor yesterday?" she asked, catching Natsume's attention.

"Where did you hear that?" he asked coldly. He was sure that the teachers hadn't said anything, and no students that weren't in... _Ahh,_ he thought, realization hitting him. _She's in my class, of course._ He'd managed to forget her, but it was short lived. She hadn't been at the hospital yesterday, but Persona would have informed her so she'd keep an eye on her.

"Persona told me." She announced, happy to have his attention. Sumire was shooting her numerous dirty looks. Mikan had turned her attention from the window to the classroom, and was observing the other students, like a scientist observing germs through a telescope.

The majority of them were all chattering away happily. In the front row, only one boy with classes was not talking, who she recognized as the class rep, Tobita. He was reading a book and taking notice, one of the few actually doing any sort of studying. In the middle row, one girl was cooking while another fiddled around with different solutions and test tubes. Mikan suspected an explosion would take pace eventually. In the back row, Natsume was talking to Ruka, while Luna and Sumire argued with each other over something. On the end of the row, Hotaru was staring at her.

Their eyes met, and neither of them looked away. It became a staring contest on the outside, but on the inside it was a struggle for recognition. They both had nagging thoughts tugging away at the back of their minds, struggling for long lost memories. It was futile, however.

Meanwhile, people had begun to notice the two, turning around to see what was going on. No one dared to step between them, or to interrupt them. None of them wished to feel the wrath of Hotaru's new and improved Baka gun, edition 4.2. After a good ten minutes or so of having an audience watch their staring contest, Natsume and Ruka noticed the event.

Sumire and Luna also turned to see what had stolen Natsume's attention, dismayed to find the new girl at fault. They'd expected as much, though. It was unfair, they thought, that they, the prettiest girls in middle school, had been trying to get at Natsume ever since he arrived, and he'd paid them no attention to this present day. Yet Mikan, the new girl, had already taken him as her partner, and was now reclaiming his attention.

_Unacceptable!_ They both mentally hissed, sliding off the desk to confront her in unison. Standing in front of her, Sumire snapped her fingers in front of Mikan's nose, earning a cold glare. Sumire swallowed the fear that bubbled in her throat and continued.

"What's with the gloom? Can't you smile?" she snapped, hands on her hips. "Stop acting tough and cool, cause we all see right through your crappy facade, bitch."

Mikan raised an interrogating eyebrow, questioning her sanity. _Quite uncalled for,_ she thought, concealing her amusement at Sumire. _Perhaps she'd rather I slap her across the room? Or maybe she'd rather learn how to fly?_

"Don't waste your time telling her to smile," Luna said, smirking as she interrupted Mikan's thoughts. "I bet she cut herself up on her own, you can see it in her eye." She continued, noticing the flash of interest on Mikan's face, which she mistook for anger. "I bet she wanted to get into the academy so bad that she paid someone to beat her up, cut herself open and laid at the gates waiting, but fell asleep."

Sumire nodded. "Yeah, I bet she did!" She agreed, high-fiving Luna. There were some murmurs of agreement from the room, but others remained quiet. "Get out of our school you self mutilating emo _skank_!" Sumire demanded, shoving Mikan's shoulder into the window.

"Listen here, permy and sea-weed hair. If i wanted to talk to you, I'd talk to you. Now piss off, you're stinking up my personal _space_. Ever heard of deodorant?" she questioned, her tone as cold as it had been yesterday. Raising an eyebrow, she waited for a reply from one of the fuming girls.

"What gives you the right to speak to us like that!?" Sumire snapped, lifting her hand to strike Mikan across the face. She brought her hand down, and Mikan caught it inches from her cheek, giving a malicious smile as she stood up, causing Luna to stumble backwards.

Mikan pulled Sumire's arm towards her, so they were face to face, and then she gave a brilliant smile, similar to the one Natsume saw yesterday. A light-bulb clicked on inside of Hotaru's mind. "How about now, Perm? Am I so much more _likeable_ when I_ smile_?" she asked, shoving her backwards onto her ass. "Do you find me for approachable? Prettier? _Nicer_?" she continued, taking a step forward as Sumire scrambled backwards along the ground.

Luna snapped out of her stunned haze, shoving Mikan in the back, while Sumire tripped her legs. She stumbled two steps forward, almost regaining balance. But then she hit a chair and tumbled over the desk, landing on Natsume and Ruka. This caused Luna and Sumire to grow even angrier, Sumire growing ears and whiskers.

Mikan laughed. "Kami, I'm just so _lovely_ when I smile, aren't I?" she chirped, flinging herself off of the two stunned boys. She raised a hand, sealing them both in ice up to their necks as she strolled closer. "Should I drop you out the window? Or would you rather I freeze over her heads, cutting off your oxygen?" she asked, her voice a scary kind of sweet. "Or perhaps you'd rather I heated your blood to the point of boiling, cooking you from the inside out?"

"M... Mikan?" Hotaru said, unable to restrain herself any longer. It didn't seem possible, though, her conclusion. That smile she'd seen, fake or not, had triggered the memory.

**FLASHBACK**

"Hotaru!" Called the 10-year-old Mikan, running towards her at full speed.

"Mikan?" Hotaru said, turning her head to the sound of her best friends voice.

"You..." Mikan said, an evil glint in her eye "You big foolish moron!" She screamed, jumping at Hotaru to kick her.

Pulling out a newly invented giant flyswatter, Hotaru knocked her aside easily. "Time is short, if you have something to tell me, tell me now." She said.

Mikan sobbed dramatically on the ground, clutching a letter in her right hand. "I got this letter from you Hotaru... it says 'I am going to a school far from here,'" she said. "But you're leaving today, and furthermore, this school has all elementary, middle, and high schools connected..."

"Ah. It's all true." Hotaru replied.

"Don't send such an important letter through tortoise mail!" she demanded, tears streaming down her cheeks.

"If I had told you to early, you would have made a racket." Hotaru said.

"Hotaru! You're a big insensitive fool!" Mikan cried. "Why didn't you tell me about such an important thing!"

"Silly Mikan... you don't have to cry like this..." Hotaru said. "I will be back for summer and winter vacations. Besides, we will write letters." She placed a gloved hand on Mikan's cheek. "Let's pretend this tortoise if a farewell gift. Be good now."

Hotaru jumped the in the car, and in the distance, she heard Mikan scream loudly. "HOTARU! YOU BIG FOOL!"

**END FLASHBACK**

Mikan turned, momentarily distracted by Hotaru calling her name. "Is there something you want?" Mikan asked emotionlessly, unsure of whether Hotaru was friend or foe.

"You... don't remember?" Hotaru asked, eyes wide she compared the ten year old Mikan with the fifteen year old Mikan. From a girl who smiled all the time, who was always happy, turning into a girl that glared down everyone, smiling sadistically as she terrorises fellow students. It didn't seem possible, but the resemblance was uncanny.

"What should I be remembering?" She asked, forgetting about the two frozen girls for the time being.

"Over five years ago now, when we were ten, we were friends. Best friends. Don't you remember?" Hotaru asked, standing up now. The only difference between the little Mikan and big Mikan was the hair, and the years. "You were always wearing piggy tails..."

Mikan frowned, concentrating hard. Her eyes widened, and her head snapped up, mouth open slightly. "Hotaru... Imai..." she said, remembering something from long ago. Her eyes narrowed to slits as she glared accusingly at Hotaru, jabbing a finger at her. "You left!" she declared, obviously displeased.

Hotaru gave a small, unnatural smile that made her look slightly in pain. It was a nice attempt, though. "Nose drip girl." Hotaru said, laughing silently to herself.

"You big fool." Mikan retorted, completely forgetting about Luna and Sumire as she hurled herself at Hotaru, locking her arms around her torso as they crashed to the ground on their sides. "I-i missed you!" Mikan cried, her voice mixing oddly with happiness, anger and some sort of stress, like she were suppressing something along the lines of hysterical tears.

Natsume, along with every other student in the room, stared at the two incredulously. "You two... know each other?" Tobita asked, having closed his book to watch the fight earlier. Everyone else was at loss for words, having just witnessed a girl thinking up different methods of torture change into a girl so desperate for a hug that she'd hurl herself through two metre's of open space.

Hotaru stood up, Mikan still attached to her arm like a patient attached to a life support system. She looked just as stunned as the others, while Mikan remained in her own little world, where no-one existed except her and Hotaru. "I... what are you doing here? You... never had an Alice..."

Mikan opened her eyes, staring up at Hotaru like she alone held the secrets of the universe. "I always had my Alice's, Hotaru. Just like you. But my Alice's, for obvious reasons, weren't as easily found as yours was. I never needed to stop an Alice, and never had one to steal, erase or copy."

Strangely enough, what Mikan said actually made sense. More memories nagged at Hotaru's mind, and she found herself in her dorm, 4 years ago, with a letter from her parents. Due to her continued silence, Koko decided to announce her thoughts.

"...This may come as a bit of a chock for you, but the day of Mikan's birthday, almost a week ago now, her Grandfather died of his illness. After being told she'd be taken into foster care, we acted upon adopting her. She... accepted, but later that afternoon, disappeared. We, the entire town, and the police have been looking for her ever since, but so far it's proving difficult..." He read Hotaru's thoughts as she read the letter to herself out of her mind. Beside her, Mikan stiffened.

"It's been a month now and there's still no sign. Almost everyone has given up searching, and we're ashamed to admit that we too, are losing faith. We've asked to school to let you attend the funeral, but they have cold heartedly declined several times. We're sorry, Hotaru..." Hotaru noticed as Mikan released her arm, snapping her out of her past memories.

"Mikan... where did you go?" She asked softly, noting the formerly overjoyed expression she'd been wearing had transformed into a look of hatred and sorrow.

Mikan turned her head and walked to the door, everyone moved aside, not wanting to feel her wrath. Opening the door, she turned around. "I went away, Hotaru..." she said, dropping her head so her bangs shaded her brown orbs. "And only part of me came back."

With that, she left the room, letting the door slam shut behind her.

* * *

**:D x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x Button? :D? xx-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x  
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	3. Shopping and Dinner

**Yay! Chapter 3! Wow, I'd like to say thanks for all the great reviews ^.^ Sure wasn't expecting all them O.O Thanks! :D!**

* * *

**3**

(3 days since Mikan walked out of class)

Mikan sat on her bed, thinking over the events of three days ago with her usual emotionless features. She'd been given a star rank, and was dismayed to find she'd have to pick between the two. If she picked three star she'd be in the Special ability class. If she picked special star, she'd be in the Dangerous Ability class.

Deciding between the two hadn't been hard, she'd heard the rumours about the DA class, and she wasn't stupid enough to allow herself that sort of treatment whether it helped others or not. What did she owe them? Nothing. But it turned out that shortly after selecting three stars and Special Class that they'd already put her as a special star anyway.

So she was lying in the middle of a huge, empty room. All that lay inside was her oversized bed, a desk, and an empty bookcase. She'd received a double allowance along with her soon-to-be usual allowance, so she could go fill the entire room if she pleased. She had 90,000 rabbits to spend. But what would she buy?

"No internet, no phones, probably no computer games..." she muttered, rolling over to peer out the window, spotting Hotaru walking into a large building. "Invention Alice, huh?" her voice was sad. Finally reunited with her best friend and she was too afraid of questioning to go see her. That's why she'd been hiding out in her room for the past 3 days.

"Maybe I should just tell her not to ask. Or Maybe I should just tell her..." she shook her head furiously, hauling herself out of bed and into her uniform. "I'll go shopping," She declared, slipping on the correct uniform before grabbing her wallet.

She composed her features as she locked her door, sighing heavily as she locked away her emotions once more. "What's the point?" she muttered to herself, closing her eyes. "I shouldn't have jumped Hotaru like that." She stood in silence for a moment, before a voice spoke and surprised her.

"No, you probably shouldn't have." The voice agreed. Turning, Mikan found the owner to be Natsume, her one and only neighbour in the special star dorms.

"Can I help you with something, young cat boy?" She asked coldly, pushing as much acid into her voice as possible. She wanted to make it perfectly clear that she wanted nothing more than to attack someone, and that attacking him would be even better. He seemed to catch the meaning, raising an eyebrow.

"Yeah, I guess you can." He said, walking closer to her. Mikan wished to retreat, but not from fear. Still, she held her ground. "I want to know why you're acting so gloomy, because clearly you aren't."

"I'll act how I want to act." She snapped. "Besides, how do you know I wasn't _pretending_ to be happy, to see your reaction?" She questioned, watching his know-it-all expression change to one of uninformed annoyance.

"I don't, but I know you're not as bad as you make yourself out to be." He stated simply, taking another step closer. "What are you really like, under this facade?" he asked, now standing so close Mikan could feel his warm breath on her face.

"Why would you want to know that?" She retorted, unsure of weather to attack or retreat. She'd never been in a situation where she had to use words to fight instead of fists and Alice's.

"No reason, I guess." He shrugged, smirking a little. "I'm just curious."

Mikan smirked now, causing him unease. It wasn't a playful smirk, but one that signalled the conversation was over, and that she'd be leaving now. Doing as he assumed, Mikan turned and walked for the stairs, but before descending, she turned, still smirking a little. "Curiousity killed the _cat_." She stated, turning back to the stairs.

_Cat boy,_ he thought grimly, scowling at the place she'd been standing. _Was that a threat?_ He shook his head before turning to the staircase that lead to the roof. "Never mind."

--

Arriving at central town, Mikan instantly found herself lost and confused. Shops were everywhere! How was she going to find one with electronics? Frowning, she began to scout out the area. After some time searching, she stumbled upon an ally of sorts, where two boys were standing over something, saying things.

"Not so tough now, are you brat?" One of them sneered, kicking whatever they were standing over. Clearly, it was a person.

Hearing a whimper, Mikan strode down the alley, yanking them back by the shirts, causing them to stumble into the wall. A few people gathered around the entrance. Glancing down at the person on the ground, Mikan noticed he was a small boy, no older than 8. He didn't look to badly injured, but he was obviously in pain.

"Who the hell are you?" Demanded one of the attackers who were instantly on the offensive. Mikan turned, looking totally innocent. "You're just a middle school brat! And a girl! Don't mess in other people business."

Mikan noted their high school status, and immediately decided violence would be permitted if she had needed to use force. "Sakura Mikan," she said flatly. "Please leave this boy alone, I'm sure he couldn't have done something so bad to earn a beating from the high school boys."

One boy laughed, while the other snorted. "He put my best friend in hospital! But now he's got Alice controllers, so he can't do crap. Move aside, before we make you." He snarled.

Mikan blinked, unfazed by his threat. "I'll be taking the boy, now." She said, picking him up off the ground and dropping him on her back. Instinctively, he clung to her. "Don't worry, they won't hurt you." She whispered gently to him. The boys were blocking her way out, and a real crowd had gathered around the entrance. "Please move."

They laughed, lifting a few large chunks of earth from the ground. "My element is earth." He said smugly. "You've got no chance."

Mikan sighed, lifting a hand to freeze the ground into place. "I'll ask you once more politely." She said, closing her eyes. When she opened them, she looked scarier than ever. "_Please move_."

The boys reply to this was to hurl the rocks at her, which she instantly repelled with her nullification shield. "I see you choose not to listen." She stated, sighing. As she lifted her arms, both the boys were lifted also. This time, the other boy made a whip out of fast moving airing, slashing at Mikan. She moved, but it sliced her cheek open.

"Take that!" He snapped, laughing as she dropped them to the ground, they landed on their feet.

Touching her cheek, Mikan found fresh blood. "I was simply going to move you, but you've actually annoyed me now." She said, circling them both in flames. She walked up to the air user and froze him to the neck before placing a hand on his forehead, sucking something from him. When she removed her hand, there was a white stone implanted in the palm of her hand.

The little boy on her back watched silently as she froze the other boy, extinguished the flames, and walked away. The crowd split into a path for her to walk through, no one dared to stay in her way. She used her arms to hold the boys legs up, giving him a piggyback ride.

She stopped at a cafe, letting the boy off. He smiled, wiping his cheeks. "Thank you, Sakura-senpai." He said cutely.

Mikan sat at a table and he sat opposite to her. "Call me Mikan."

The boy nodded immediately. "Okay, Mikan-senpai." He smiled. "My name is Hijiri Youichi. You can call me Youichi."

Mikan smiled pleasantly, surprising him a little. Mikan thought of reasons for this before realizing he'd been – obviously – watching everything she just did. "Ah, I see. Are you scared of me, Youichi?" she smiled a little when she asked, noting his blush.

He looked up at her, closed his eyes and shook his head before nodding slightly. "You were strange before, scary. I thought you were going to kill them, because of your eyes."

"My eyes?" She asked, confused.

"Your eyes, I've seen the look in them once before." He murmured, thinking deeply. Mikan couldn't help but smile at how cute the child looked thinking like he was, and it caused her to giggle a little. "After he got that look in his eye... he killed the other man, saying that his purpose had been fulfilled or something." Youichi shuddered. "It was scary."

Mikan frowned. "Who was he? Does he go to this school?" she asked.

Youichi shrugged and shook his head. "We were on a mission, and—,"

"A mission?" Mikan interrupted, perplexed at his choice of words.

Youichi's eyes rounded, like he'd said something terribly wrong that would earn him great punishment. "Oh... never mind." He shook his head, standing up. "I-I have to go, I'm supposed to meet some friends. Thank you for helping me, Mikan-senpai." He bowed and began walking away, but Mikan stopped him.

"Youichi, if you ever need help... just tell me, I'll take care of you." She said, grinning. "By the way, would you happen to know were any electronic shops are? Or a shop that sells TV's?"

Youichi nodded, point to a large blue neon sign. "Imai's shop is the best place for electric stuff. She sells lots of TV's and other weird things. Bye, Mikan-senpai."

"Thanks Youichi-kun, take care of yourself." She said, waving. He nodded and waved before running off. Mikan was still smiling a little as she turned, but once he was gone the faint joy she felt disappeared with him. "His is a good kid." She noted, heading for the glowing blue sign.

Upon arriving, shepassed several candy stores. It took great restraint to not buy out each one of them and to continue walking, but she succeeded, arriving at Imai's shop with all of her money. Imai was not working, but a robot. "What may I help you with?" The robot asked.

Mikan examined the robot, noticing its appearance. "Eh!?" her eyes popped open wide and as she traced over and over its features. "It's me!? When I was little!?" she poked it, circling it in a strange way. People stopped to watch, but quickly moved on. How wants to risk being attacked by a mentally unstable person?

"Wow..." she said, scratching her head. "She... made me? Cool..." she pursed her lips and shrugged. "I'm just going to look around." She told it, browsing the shop. After about an hour of walking around and adding up prices, she'd finished her shopping list.

She brought a TV, some weird gaming console to go with it, a small computer/DVD player, and a stereo that came with two large speakers. She was surprised to find that this all cost her 50,000 rabbits; she'd expected it to be a lot more. Hotaru was a business woman after all. As she was about to leave, she spotted a small vehicle like contraption, and stopped to take a look.

It looked like a mini-car, sort of, except it no doors and bunny ears were coming off the front, while a fluffy white tail was on the back. She found it had a boot for storage, and a very small motor under the hood. It was a two seater, and had a less complicated system. It had only two pedals, which Mikan assumed were acceleration and brakes, and only one gear stick. There were two drink holders between the two seats, and an inbuilt radio.

The instant Mikan-robot came to ask her if she needed assistance, she asked to price. It scanned it system, then came out with an answer. "For Sakura Mikan, 15,000 rabbits." She said, a scanner running over Mikan from the robots eyes. "Do you wish to purchase this item?"

Mikan looked back at it, and then at her other pile of items, deciding she probably couldn't carry them all back. It was probably only two meters long, but the back metre was all storage. Nodding, she paid the robot, and packed her things into the mini-car. "This also comes with purchase." The robot said, handing Mikan a controller.

"Can I drive it like a normal car?" she asked, frowning. For a moment, she thought she'd purchased a remote control car. The robot nodded, then left. The controlled was simple enough, but she'd managed to fit everything in the boot, with no room to spare.

_I still have 25,000 rabbits left. _Mikan chided mentally, driving down the streets in her car. "I think I'll call it the bunny-mobile." She decided, not caring about what its real name might have been. Driving around central town, Mikan stopped and brought two CD's that had thirty songs each. She'd heard some of the songs, and was familiar with others, while others were totally random. But still, that had only cost 2,000 rabbits.

"Ugh, maybe I should just keep it." She snapped, realizing the end of the month was in another two days, and that she'd be paid another 30,000 rabbits. She glowered at the road, focusing on not hitting anyone. After a while of just driving around mindlessly, she began stopping at shops. She discovered that the car had an alarm, so if anyone touched it, they were zapped and the car would scream for help.

She ran outside to find an elementary school student sitting beside the car, a shocked expression on her face. The car stopped screaming when Mikan was within five metres of it. "Trying to steal my bunny-mobile, were you?" Mikan asked, raising an eyebrow accusingly.

The girl stood up, shaking her head rapidly. "No, no! I just wanted to feel to ears! I'm sorry, I'll go now." She bowed and took off, not waiting for a reply. Shrugging, Mikan went back to browsing through a furniture shop.

By the time she was finished there, all she'd bought was a bean bag, which she had trouble stuffing into the passenger seat. She still had 20,000 rabbits left, this was driving her insane. _Fine!_ She snapped at herself. _I'll go waste it on something weird!_

**(An hour later)**

When she was done, she had only 2,000 rabbits left, which left her satisfied. She'd bought a pot plant that doubles as a trash can, and a bunch of weird seeds. She tucked the large bag of seeds under the passenger seat, and had to keep the plant on her lap as she tried driving back to campus.

After a while, she gave up, only 1/3 of the way back. An idea came to mind, and she hopped out of the car, placing the plant on the driver's seat and taking the controller. After spending 10 minutes or so mastering the controller, she took off all her shirts until she was left with the white under shirt, which she cut holes in the back of.

A bus full of middle school students came to a halt beside her, to see if she needed assistance. Jinno demanded to know why she'd vandalized her own uniform. Students stared at her off the bus, and she recognized Sumire and Ruka.

She shrugged. "I can't fit in all my stuff and drive, so I'm going to fly back and use the controller to bring the car. If I don't cut the back, my wings will rip the entire shirt." She explained, using her Angel-Alice. Jinno and the other students watched as she took flight, the bunny-mobile driving after her along the ground.

On the bus, Sumire snorted. "She's such a show off." She muttered, crossing her arms. "Just because she's special star, she thinks she's great!" She complained to Ruka. He wasn't paying attention, though. He was busying staring after the angel-like Mikan. "Don't you agree, Ruka?"

He shook his head, realizing she was speaking to him. "Huh? Sorry, what did you say?" The bus was moving again now.

"Don't you agree that she's a total show off?" She asked again.

Ruka shook his head. "She's just doing what she wants to. If you had wings, would you walk on the ground?" he asked, causing her face to fall blank. "I know I wouldn't. That's why I get around on the giant eagle."

Sumire huffed, turning her head away. "Whatever."

--

Arriving back at her dorm, Mikan landed and drove the car into the elevator and into her room as quickly as she could, avoiding all contact. After unpacking and setting everything up, she dumped all the seed packets on her bed before changing into her Pyjama's.

One pack said it would grow plush grass that didn't need watering or taking care of, and that it would grow overnight in any terrain. Another was singing black and white flowers. Apparently they sing any song you taught them. There was even a small tree that could apparently be grown indoors because it had no roots. To stop it from growing, all you had to do was put the 'Stop-Growth' solution on it, which Mikan had also purchased. She also found mushrooms chairs and tables, blue coloured glow in the dark flowers, a bush that grew lollies called 'Howalon', and many other weird plants that were supposed to grow overnight.

Mikan took the one's she'd read, and placed the others back in the bag. First she spread the grass seeds, curious to see the effect. The grass would take only two hours to grow, so Mikan decided to go get some dinner. Breakfest and dinner were the only times she left her room for the past three days.

--

Mikan was in her normal school uniform, eating white rice, crab, chicken, beef and some sort of soup and a bowl of ramen. She'd rejected the foods she didn't know. People watched her when she ate, and she spotted Youichi with a few of his friends. Seeing him smile caused her to smile, which caused people to look at her funny until she shot death glares at them.

She sat alone, eating her food, until Tobita came out of nowhere with his food, sitting across the table from here. She stared at him, questioning his sanity. "Are you lost?" she asked doubtfully, causing him to blush a little.

"May I sit with you, Sakura-san?" he asked kindly, smiling at her like she'd cracked a funny joke.

She hesitated, and then muttered: "Suit yourself." and continued eating. After a long silence, she saw his smile disappear, and wondered why. "It's odd to see a kid like you without a smile." She said emotionlessly, jabbing a piece of chicken with a chop stick.

He blinked looking confused, then smiled. "What about you, Sakura-san? Why don't you smile?" he asked.

Mikan turned her head down to the food. "What reason do I have to smile?" She asked, picking up more chicken.

Tobita was at a loss. "You don't need a reason to smile." He started, thinking up words as he went along. "When you smile you feel happy, which gives you a reason to smile again."

Mikan chuckled. "Smiling makes you happy, huh?" She asked, looking up with a sweet smile. "I don't think so. It makes me feel fake and unnatural." She stated, dropping the act.

Two girls came over, sitting between Mikan and Tobita. Mikan recognized them from class and tried to remember their names. Nonoko and Anna, or something along those lines. They smiled, saying hello to both Tobita and Mikan.

She nodded in response, eating her food slowly once more. The three talked among themselves for an hour and a half, while Mikan continued to pick away at her food. They realized, after a while, that she was eating extra slowly.

"Sakura-chan, why are you eating so slowly?" Anna asked, glancing at Mikan's almost-full bowl of rice.

She looked up; examining Anna face before she began picking at her food for another silent five minutes. "Passing time." She answered, watching their faces fill with confusion. Mikan sighed. "I went shopping at Central town and bought some weird seeds. I planted grass in my room that's supposed to grow within two hours. So I'm wasting time. 30 mins left." She explained, eating her rice again.

"You planted _Grass_ in your _room_?" Nonoko repeated incredulously, expecting to hear some sort of sarcasm. Mikan nodded in response. "Why?" She asked, trying to imagine her room with grass on the floor.

Mikan shrugged. "The room was boring." She said simply.

Tobita laughed. "I'd like to see that. What else did you buy?"

"TV, computer cross DVD players, Imai console version 4.5, bunny-mobile, panda shaped bean bag stereo, CD's, and a bunch of random plants to grow in my room." She answered, ticking them off with her fingers. They all looked at her, clearly wanting an explanation. "They gave me double my allowance for starting, and then my normal allowance, so I had 90,000 rabbits to waste. I get another 30,000 in three days." She muttered, shaking her head. "It's ridiculous."

"Wow," Anna said, scratching her head. "I wouldn't know what to do with so much money!" she stated, then blinked. "Did you buy any clothes?" she asked.

Mikan felt stupid and surprised instantly. She'd been found unconscious, so she obviously didn't have any other belongings with her. "Uh, no. I didn't see any clothes shops where I was." She admitted sheepishly. "Only 2,000 rabbits left, anyway." She shrugged.

Nonoko grinned widely. "Why don't you come with me and Anna-chan on Sunday? We always go shopping on pay-day. And we could show you where the clothes shops are." She offered, smiling. Mikan fell silent, instantly on alert.

"Uh..." she said, debating the effects in her head. She saw disappointment on Nonoko's face and gave into her inner-good. "I guess. Nothing better to do anyway." She said.

After that, Tobita joined the shopping group, and they continued conversing, although Mikan never opened up. She left and went back to her room to find all of the empty ground covered in luscious green grass. It went around all of the other items on the floor, except the rug and bean bag, which were sitting on top.

She didn't know why, but after talking about all of the plants and hearing all of their interest, she'd invited them over to see after it was finished.

Mikan planted the glowing flowers along the end of her bed, the singing flowers next to the stereo, the small tree in the middle of empty space to the left of her bed, and then the mushroom table and six chairs, and then finally she planted the Howalon bush in the centre of her rug.

"Better be grown by Sunday." She commanded, tucking herself into bed. She strained to rid her head of the memories that haunted her sleep, and succeeded mostly. Her mind was cleared, but her body remembered, and tears slid across her sleeping face and onto her soft pillow.

"I miss you..." She whispered, falling into a deep sleep.

* * *

**:D?**


	4. Sharing the past

**Sorry it took so long to update this chapter, I had some computer troubles. For some odd reason my files refused to transfer onto a USB, and I couldn't post anything in emails. Hell, I couldn't post comments on bebo or either, and it wouldn't let me upload chapters onto it, either. I'm trying again, like every other day, in hopes that it will work now.**

**I did, however, end up resetting my computer. By resetting I mean deleting everything, taking it to a shop and having everything erased. Apparently, I had a , I had to rewrite everything I'd already written. This chapter was rushed, so some things are probably messed up :/**

**By the way, does anyone know any good manga's that are like Gakuen Alice? Something Like 'Special A' or 'Kodocha', even 'Cardcaptor Sakura'. I just finished Skip beat and Oran highschool host club (On mangafox) and now I'm looking for something to entertain me :] Thanks ^.^  
**

**So yeah, sorry for the EXTREMELY LATE update, and I hope my quick desperate mess of a chapter pleases you :)!**

**

* * *

****4**

Natsume yawned, rolling off his bed into a comfortable sitting position. Last night he'd heard soft sobs drifting out of Mikan's open window, along with muffled cries for help. He'd inspected, mildly concerned, only to find her talking in her sleep. Technically, he should have woken her up from her bad dream, but that would've seemed strange.

This morning, however, absurdly loud music was infiltrating his peaceful room, waking him up all to … "Late?" He frowned, reexamining his alarm clock. "It's lunch already?" He shrugged, dropping back into his bed, unconcerned about missing class. Not like it mattered for him, anyway. Going to class was pointless. He'd never win a trip home to see his little sister and father, the principle would never allow it.

**__ (With Mikan)**

Mikan flipped out the CD having already memorized all of the lyrics to each song, and slid in the next. Shopping had cheered her up yesterday, and she'd planned on going to class today. Unluckily, she'd overslept again, and couldn't be bothered showing up late. There was no point, anyway. Going to class was for those who wanted to earn a trip home to their families, but she had no family to return to. She had no one.

As if summoned from her heart, the song began to play. Mikan instantly recognized it as 'Bye bye' by Mariah Carey. A very sad song of parting, dedicated to loved ones who were now in a better place. Instinctively, she reached forward to change the song. As she leaned forward a cold wet tear splattered on her thigh, followed by three more.

"Eh? I-I'm crying?" She frowned again at her stuttering, not having realized she felt sad. "I shouldn't be crying." She stated in her monotone voice. Crying was weak and pointless, something that should not be displayed in broad daylight. That, of course, is why she cried herself dry every night. Self preservation.

"…You loved me, and obviously, there's so much more left to say if you were with me today face to face…" The words escaped her mouth and she made a sound in her throat that was mixed between a humorless laugh and gagging. It was hard to tell if she'd throw up or burst out in hysterical laughter. "I'm SINGING!" She announced to herself, stretching out along the moist grass which was her carpet.

"Perhaps I'm really going insane. I haven't sung, or laughed, or cried like this since you died, Akira!" She said, shaking her head with a sadistic grin. His name clawed up her throat, slashing open wounds that were only just starting to heal. She was intentionally causing herself pain, it was bringing her a very odd sense of joy. "Brilliant…"

"…I never knew I could hurt like this, and everyday life goes on like:  
'I wish I could talk to you for awhile,', miss you but I try not to cry, as.. time… goes… by…" Sniffing and wiping herself, she allowed herself to finish the chorus. "And it's true that you've reached a better place, still I'd give the world to see your face, and I'm right here next to you, but it's like you're gone too soon, now the hardest thing to do, is say bye, bye…"

There was movement in her peripheral vision, causing an instinctive reaction. Picking up the first mildly-dangerous looking object her fingers could grasp, she hauled it at the figure, her body quickly following. Distracted by the CD case she'd thrown, the intruder was caught under Mikan, unable to move freely.

"Who are you and what do you want?" She hissed, pressing an elbow into his spine. His raven hair looked oddly familiar. "Oh, it's you. What are you doing in my room, Hyuuga?" She demanded, unsure of whether she should release the un-struggling boy or not. He obviously wasn't scared of her, which annoyed her.

"I thought I heard a cat dying in here, so I came to relieve it of its suffering." He grunted, a smirk curling his lips. "I seem to have been mistaken though. May I compliment you on your dying-animal sound imitations?" He asked sarcastically.

After a few seconds of trying to work out what he was trying to say, she realized he just down-graded her singing. "You really are an asshole. And here I thought the rumors were flattering you." She muttered.

"Maybe I'm just trying to impress you?" he said, trying to look at her but failing as she shoved his head back into the bed. "Now now, no need to rush. I don't think you're ready for this sort of experience, polka dots."

After a few seconds of silence, she understood he's code talk. "Sorry Hyuuga, I like my men a little _bigger_. And what do you mean polka…" Her eyes popped open wide and she found herself searching for a sharp object. "I'm afraid I'll have to kill you now, Hyuuga." She said in a cold sharp voice.

"You can try, Sakura." He replied in a taunting voice. "Anytime, any pla… hey, why're you crying? I was just kidding, don't cry." Natsume frowned, standing up to approach Mikan, who had turned around in order to challenge him in battle.

"Crying…?" she gritted her teeth in frustration. "You're words had no effect on me, Cat boy. I was practicing fake tears before you so rudely intruded. Now please leave, I'm busy." Mikan thought up an excuse, wiping away her tears immediately. _Why the hell am I still crying like a baby!?_ She mentally hissed at herself, trying to keep her composure.

"Don't lie, polka dots." He stated calmly, sitting down cross-legged on the ground before patting the space next to him. "Come sit down and tell me why. If you don't, not only will I tell everyone you were crying, I'll let them all listen to this…" He pulled out an object that resembled a cell phone, flipping it open and pressing a button. Moments later her singing voice filled the air, and she found herself sitting next to him obediently.

"Why are you so eager to know? Are you digging for dirt? Trying to find inside information to blackmail me with?" She questioned in a bored voice, slightly different. To her usual. She didn't know why, and she didn't really care, but she wanted to tell him. Something about him made her want to tell him everything.

"Talking helps. No more questions, now you talk." He commanded, staring her down. She remained silent, and he glared, playing the recording again.

"Alright, I get it." She snapped, thinking back to the day it started. "It's sort of… I dunno where I should start. What do you want to know?"

"Why you were crying. Start from the first main reason, and then you can continue."

"Right… I don't actually know why I was crying, but the first time I really cried was when my parents died." She stated easily, unfazed on the outside but bleeding on the inside. Natsume's eyes held questions, but she continued. "When I was nine, I had older twin brothers who were twelve and a little sister who was three…"

**(Mikan's memories—she's projecting the memories directing into Natsume's head, so he's seeing everything I'm about to write…)**

Mikan ran alongside her brothers, Kei and Ryuu, with her little sister Hikari gripping her back tightly with an oversized grin on her cutely dimpled little face. They all had brown hair, and all of them but Mikan had dimples. Ryuu had blonde highlights though, in order to change his appearance slightly to Kei's. The siblings had just been playing at the lake, so they were all wet and muddy.

"How come Onee-chan's have magic powers and I don't?" Mikan complained, trying to keep up with her big brothers.

They laughed, smiling at her cuteness. "You might just be a late bloomer, Mika, don't be so down. There's nothing special about controlling water." Kei said, coming to an abrupt halt out in front of the mansion's driveway.

"Cars… black cars... men in black suits… There's too many, who are they?" Ryuu's voice was panicked as he took in the slightly before him. Nobody replied, but Mikan covered her petite nose.

"I smell burning. The smoke's yucky; make it stop with your magic water." She commanded, covering Hikaru's nose with her hand. "Eh? Don't run so fast, I can't keep up, one—,"

"Stay! Mikan stay right there!" Kei commanded, sprinting off towards the mansion. The gates opened, revealing a scene of fire, smoke and bodies.

Mikan screamed, rushing into the trees. She was little, sure, but she was brave. After quickly climbing up a tall tree, she wedged Hikaru in between forked branches, commanding her to stay put. She went running towards the house, but her efforts were in vain. The gate was closed and locked, and she couldn't get in.

In the distance she saw her brothers fighting men in black suits, and she screamed for her parents. Ryuu turned to the sound of her voice, and then stopped moving completely. He dropped to the ground, still unmoving. "RYUU! ONEE-CHAN! ONEE-CHAN GET UP!" she screamed her voice desperately earsplitting.

Déjà vu.

Kei spun around to see his twin laying motionless on the ground, and moments later joined him. Wide-teary eyed Mikan screamed their names again, this time earning the attention of the other men. Someone placed a hand on her shoulder before lifting her up, and suddenly she was staring into the bloodied up face of her father, Izumi.

"Daddy! Daddy Ryuu and Kei are in their! Daddy they won't get up! Make them get up!" She clutched his muddy burnt shirt, pulling hardly. She didn't notice that he was placing her in a car. "Daddy…" Everything went black, and she zoned out into unconsciousness.

**(Reality)**

"He knocked he out and erased my memory. I didn't remember anything. The guy driving the car told me my family died in a car crash, and that I was going to live with gramps. I believed him and cried for a while until I fell asleep. When I woke up I was being passed over to Gramps, and I could've sworn he had wings for a moment." She frowned, shaking her head. "Anyway, that's where I met Hotaru. Everything was cool for about a year, and then she left. Then another easy year passed, and on my 11th birthday, gramps died…"

**(Memories)**

Mikan sat on the chain in the doctor's office, smiling. They always called her into the doctor's office when her granddad was being released from the hospital, so she could walk home with him. The doctor however, was not smiling.

"Mikan…" he said in a grim voice, dispelling her cheerful mood. "I'm afraid your grandfather isn't going to be released in time for your birthday, but he'd like to see you anyway. Come with me." He led her to the room, then left.

"Mikan, I'm sorry." He said, smiling at his cute granddaughter. "Ah, but I see you found your present. Do you like the dress?"

Mikan nodded, spinning in a circle so the skirt of the dress twirled out neatly. It was a white fairy dress, and lace up sandals. She felt like a princess. "I love it gramps, thanks." She smiled sweetly, placing herself on the edge of the bed.

"I'm glad," he said before falling into a coughing fit. Mikan, concerned, gently placed a hand on his forehead, wishing she could suck away his sickness. Something tingled inside of her, and a warmth grew in her hand. Scared and confused, she pulled her hand away to reveal a cloudy white stone.

"What the heck? Grandpa… Granpa!?" She cried his name, shaking his shoulder. He was motionless, his eyes closed peacefully. "Wake up, grandpa. Please…" she realized them that he wasn't breathing. "Gr… GRANDPA!?" She screamed, and a nurse ran through the door to take her away.

-An hour later-

"Mikan, we'd like to adopt you." Miss Imai finished her speech, smiling sadly. Mikan had been staring at her hands. She knew that somehow, she'd taken something precious from her grandfather. Something that had caused him to die. She'd killed him, she was sure of it. "What do you say?"

Mikan nodded, looking up with a scary-happy smile. "I'd love you to adopt me." She said, grinning happily. "I need to go to the bathroom, though. So I'll be back soon." She stood up, walking away.

Miss Imai blinked, surprised at Mikan's unchanged happiness. How could a girl who'd just lost her grandfather on her birthday smile that brightly? It was scary, and unnatural. Mikan burst out in tears over lots of things, but she hadn't shed a single tear over his death so far.

Mikan continued walking along the road, getting further and further away from the town. "What did I do?" She asked herself, tears running down her cheeks. She felt different, there was a cold warmth in her body that didn't seem to belong there. "What did I take from him?" She demanded of herself, looking over the edge of the road to see a steep cliff.

She moved closer to the road, shying away from the danger. "I'm a coward. A complete coward. A monster. I must be a demon!" She cried, closing her eyes. She opened her eyes at a honking car, and jumped out of the way before stumbling over a rock and falling from the edge of the road.

Falling straight over the cliff. She screamed, and warm engulfed her, white feathers sprouting from her back and tearing her ghostly white dress. She kept her eyes wedged shut, waiting for the ground to meet her.

However when she opened her eyes, she found herself in the air, staring down at the ground but not moving towards her. A flapping sound caused her to glance around, and she found two large white angel wings extended on either side of her torso. She screamed, flapping herself back onto hard ground.

"H-how!? How'd I… where'd they come from!?" She spun around in circled in the middle of the road, trying to find where they connected. A car screeched to a halt bother her, and a boy about the same age as her stepped out, strolling over to her.

"Interesting Alice, little girl. What's your name?" Questioned the boy. He was very cute with black hair and blue eyes, a mischievous grin playing at his lips. He was dressed in baggy jeans and a black jacket. He looked as if he'd woken up and dragged on clothes.

"A-Alice? Who's that? Who're you? What's happening to me!?" She demanded, backing away from the now confused looking boy. "Stay away, please. I'll hurt you, like I hurt him. Please stay away!" she tried, waving a hand at him and sending a gust of wind whipping out at him. "Ahh!? Did I do that?! How!? I'm sorry!!" She cried, moving backwards again as two other men stepped out of the car

"It's alright," The boy said, coughing. He'd obviously been winded by her blow. "I understand that you're confused, but if you calm down and put away your wings, I'll be able to explain everything too you…"

**(Reality)**

"That was the first Alice I stole, the Angel Alice. I think I stole the wind Alice from gramps to, but I'm not sure. I can't use it anymore, anyway. It's gone."

"So… You stole your granddad's Alice's?" Natsume clarified.

Mikan scoffed. "Yes, and alongside that his life." Her voice was filled with self-loathing. "The boy I met was a year older than me, called Akira. He explained everything and taught me how to use my Alice's, and how they worked. He became my new big brother, and the only thing I had to care about. I loved him."

"But… what happened? You say 'loved', did he…?"

"Yes." She said, nodding. "He died. I killed him. It was my fault." She closed her eyes, breathing deeply. "He was the source of my happiness, and the item of my affection. When he died… when I killed him, it all died with him. He died because we worked for the AAO."

Natsume stiffened. "You worked for the AAO?" He repeated. "Why? How'd you get here then?"

"There was a fight. Akira found out about how evil they were, so we tried to destroy them. We killed them all, but I… couldn't, I couldn't save Akira. So I tried to steal his pain, to make it better and steal his injuries. It worked, which surprised me. I stole his cuts and bruises, it was easy. But then he… asked me to make to pain go away, but I couldn't. And I was stupid, I kept trying. I shouldn't have kept trying, I should have quit.

"I kept trying and trying, and eventually I got into some weird trance, and he'd planned it that way. He knew about my trances, he was the only one. And while I was distracted, he teleported me to the Academy gates. I thought I was under attack, so I… stabbed the attacker… I didn't know, I didn't see him…" tears were now running down her cheeks. "As I was teleported I saw his eyes closed and saw him stop breathing, I watched him die."

"It's not your fault." Natsume said firmly. He wanted to comfort her, he didn't know why. He'd heard sad story's and seen girls cry without feeling the necessity to make them feel better, but this was different. She couldn't be allowed to cry, couldn't be allowed to feel that pain. She had to smile. He had to make her smile.

She laughed viciously, closing her eyes. "There, I told you. Now please leave, I'm going to sleep." She stood up and tucked herself into bed. "Get out."

"How did you remember your parent's deaths?" He asked, unwilling to leave but knowing he had to.

Mikan huffed. "The AAO took away the shield that was blocking my memory, cause' they wanted to know more about me. No more questions. Tired. Need sleep. Bye, Cat boy."

Natsume shrugged, walking out of the door. "Bye, polka dots." He said. Glancing over, he saw her shaking, and knew she was crying, but did nothing. A mission carved itself into his mind, a mission that couldn't be failed or forgotten. The mission?

_I will make her smile._ He said firmly, closing the door.

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LOL, goodluck Natsume ;]]

**Okay, that's it! Once again, sorry this chapter took so damn long, I'll try and update sometime tomorrow, but I probably won't be able to update until Wednesday or Thursday, because I've got exams and assignments due *Such a drag***

**Thanks for reading, reviews appreciated!**


	5. Howalon

**Okay, so I guess i messed up and updated late again. Sorry :S But I passed my HPE assignment ^.^ Anyway, yes. Thanks to the reviewers, its you guys that encourage me to continue with stories. When nobody reviews, its like a sign: NOBODY LIKES IT. So I drop it :)**

**So, chapter five for you guys :D!  
**

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Chapter 5

Waking up in the morning, Mikan yawned and rolled over, not surprised to find her pillow still slightly damp from last night. She noticed instantly the white dotted red mushroom table and chairs under the Mikan-sized tree. She'd stop the tree from growing when it was twice the size it was now. The Howalon bush had also grown magnificently, but the Howalon were still tiny. The packet said they'd fruit around once every day, giving between 5-10 Howalon per harvest. The bush had been 5,000 rabbits, but apparently the Howalon sell for good money. And, of course, taste great.

Flicking her alarm plant, it announced in a cheery voice that it was 10am, and that she was late for class already. After deciding not to go back to sleep, she pulled out the bag of seeds, searching through them for anything interesting. All she found were vines that would grow on the roof that bloomed golden flowers shaped like stars and gave off a wonderful scent, and glowed; and a man eating flower that listens to the master command.

She planted both, dripping her blood in top the man eating plants bit of grass, as the instructions said to. This way, the plant would only eat what she told it to. The plants were illegal on campus, and she'd been lucky to buy one. She planted it next to the door, planning to instruct it to eat anyone that came in when she wasn't there. Of course the plant didn't really _eat_ them; it just swallowed them and left them unconscious by attaching a root to them that sent weird electric signals into their brains.

At 11, she grew bored again, getting dressed for class. It was Friday now, another self-study day. That meant she wouldn't have to put up with any stupid teachers getting up her for being four hours late. Of course, going back to sleep would have been just as easy...

Grabbing her black shoulder bag, she shoved in her old sketch book that'd been in her coat, a pencil and eraser, and a note book. As she was about to leave, she noticed the Howalon had fallen off onto the ground. There were nine of them, so she tipped the seed packets out of their paper bag on her beg and chucked the Howalon in before stuffing them into her bag and jumped out her open window, landing easy on her feet before trotting off to class.

--

Mikan opened the door and stood there, watching everyone turn to face her. She closed the door and went to her seat, noticing that Sumire was sitting in it. "You're in my way," Mikan said coldly after Sumire shot her a dirty look. "Move."

Sumire snorted. "Make me, psycho." She sneered, crossing her arms.

Mikan shrugged. "If you insist." She said. She grabbed Sumire by the collar and hauled her onto the floor. Mikan sat down and turned to see Sumire fuming. "You appear to be angry," Mikan noted, smirking. "I find that quite unrealistic. You did ask for it, after all." She said, shrugging. Unwilling to deal with Sumire's crap, she put up a small shield around herself, ignoring her whining. Having numerous Alice's proved extremely useful in annoying situations like the current.

She felt something hit her barrier, and couldn't help but smile at the sound of Sumire's pain. Natsume poked the barrier, noting the jolt of electricity. "It's a barrier, Permy." He said, eyeing it off. "Something I could use." He muttered, shaking his head.

Mikan remembered the events of the previous day, and how she'd unloaded all of her painful memories onto Natsume. Suddenly feeling generous, she expanded the barrier over him, which he realized instantly. "Pleased?" She asked, raising an eyebrow as she pulled out her Howalon, pencil, eraser and sketch book.

Natsume shrugged. "I guess. Thanks." He said "What's in the bag?"

"Some white fluffy candy called Howalon, have you tasted them?" She asked, opening the bag. Natsume nodded, so she offered him one before cautiously popping one into her mouth. They sensation of the flavor melting on her tongue consumed her, and for a moment the outside world was lost. She'd always had a taste for candy, things like fairy floss. Howalon was like a snow cone, fairy floss had every other sweet thing in the world combined in perfect harmony.

Natsume ate his howalon, watching Mikan's reaction to the candy in amusement. Her facial expression were hilarious, and he found himself shaking with silent laughter as her eyes glazed over. This was the most expression he'd seen in her, and it was caused by candy. He couldn't help but laugh at the thought.

"You like it then?" he asked as her eyes slowly came back to focus on the open bag of howalon. She did not answer, but merely reached into the bag to claim seconds, swiftly followed by thirds until there were no more remaining. "That… was quick…" Natsume said, trailing off as she turned to him with eyes so sad he thought she'd burst into tears right then and there.

"There all gone…" she stated the obvious, holding the bag to her eye. "How can this be? The tree… the tree will fruit again, I must be patient." She commanded herself. Her cold, detached expression hardened into place, and any on lookers would have thought her previous features were nothing but imagination. Searching for a subject change, Mikan searched for a topic.

"Fangirls must suck, huh?" she asked, beginning to draw a picture from the dream she had last night. It was short but the characters had stuck in her head and refused to leave her mind.

Natsume huffed. "It's just Perm. She's deluded herself into thinking I'm 'hers'. It's driving me insane! If she doesn't watch herself I'll explode and loose my temper again, this time I plan to take all of her hair along with me. She's doing the same thing with Ruka, too." He muttered, turning to see Ruka zap his finger on the barrier. Sumire was already making her move, ready to go sit and flirt with him. Natsume took quick action. "Could you...?"

Mikan nodded, expanding over Ruka. She chuckled darkly when Sumire hit the barrier for a second time. "Serves her right." She muttered, shaking her head to dismiss the idiocy. "The best part is, no one outside can hear us, but we can hear them. It's great for eavesdropping." She chuckled maliciously, continuing her drawing.

Ruka seemed stunned. "Uh, Sakura-chan, you're talking?" he couldn't help but ask; he'd been curious ever since she came. He and a few other students had come to the conclusion that she was more than likely a mute of some sort.

Mikan froze, and then shrugged. There was no law to say she could not speak with others. _As long as I don't get attached._ She thought sternly. "I'm not a mute." She murmured, shaking her head again. "I just wasn't in a very chatty mood on Monday. I apologize if you got the wrong impression." She said, still emotionless. In reality, she hadn't changed from Monday, she was simply talking to people that didn't annoy her now. At first, she didn't know there were people that _didn't_ annoy her. Surprise's come from everywhere.

"Ah! Anna, No!" Ruka called as something hit Mikan's barrier. She snapped it back in, shooting up over the desk to see Anna on the ground, stunned from the shock. Her leg twitched and she groaned.

"Aie..." Mikan slapped her forehead. "Sorry, Anna-chan." She apologized when Anna's eyes came back into focus. "Are you okay?" she asked. Anna nodded and smiled dizzily, looking stoned. She didn't appear to be severely injured.

"It just surprised me, that's all." She said, standing up to dust herself off. "I was going to ask how your rooms coming along. Did you plant them all?"

Mikan blinked then nodded, sitting down again while Anna pulled up a chair in front of her desk, watching her draw. "Yeah, guess I did. Still heaps left, though. Just planted a new one called a 'star vine', and I've got to wait until that tree grows a bit more, I want it touching the roof." Mikan said, shading part of her drawing.

Anna smiled. "How's it look?" She asked cheerfully.

Mikan shrugged again, a natural reaction. Or was it just habit? "Personally, I think the walls need painting. But everything else looks pretty cool." She sighed. "I need blue paint. Can we buy that in central town, too?" she asked, looking up. Anna nodded, and Mikan realized they were being watched. "Gotta problem?" She snapped, causing prying eyes to look away while Nonoko and Tobita pulled up chairs next to Anna.

"Are you just going to paint them blue?" Anna asked before greeting her two friends. Mikan shrugged. "Why not paint something you like?" she asked, angling her head to get a better look at Mikan's picture.

Mikan hesitated. "I don't think there's anything I actually do like, to tell the truth…" She said, scanning her brain for things she liked. "That's actually quite strange. I've never thought about it before. What do I like...?"

Tobita smiled. "You're a pretty good drawer. Why not paint people, like you've drawn that girl?" he asked, pointing at Mikan's complete – but not really complete – looking drawing.

She stuck her head down, drawing the rest. When she finished, she leaned back. "I guess I could... But I think I'll just paint it like the night sky, seeing as there'll be glowing star-shaped flowers on the roof. I could turn the light into a moon, but it'd be very dim lighting." She thought, picturing the way it would look. The mental image was pleasing.

The others nodded, still examining the picture. "Why are her wings broken?" Nonoko asked, touching the paper.

"Is that stuff dripping from them blood?" Tobita asked.

"Why is there a sword in her stomach?" Anna asked.

Mikan shrugged. "I saw it in my dream last night." She explained.

"What was it about?" They asked in unison, and then laughed. Mikan smiled a small smile, but couldn't get out a laugh. She tried, and failed.

"Well..." Mikan pursed her lips. "This girl, the one I drew, she fell from the sky and a boy caught her. They became friends, and then he turned evil for some unknown reason, and she got her powers back. He was a demon who pretended to be good, and she was a fallen angel that suffered greatly. They fought, and she killed him but he broke her wings and sliced her up pretty bad. Then out of despair for losing the only friend, she took his sword and drove it through her stomach, so that she could feel his suffering as well as her own while she died."

Everyone was staring at her like she was a side show freak. Of course, they must have considered it strange for someone to have a depressing dream like that. Mikan ignored their questioning gazes. "I need coloring pencils, too." She announced, closing her sketch book. Looking up, she realized they were still watching her. "_What_?" She snapped, displeased with their prying eyes.

Hearing her tone and the implication of violence, many snapped out of the haze, turning back to their studies. Others, however continued staring, like she would suddenly do some trick and they didn't want to miss out. Side show freak for sure.

Annoyed, she reopened her sketch book an began drawing whatever she felt like, causing a few people to snap to attention, while others grouped around to check out the pictures. It took great restraint for her to not eject a barrier and zap them all next picture she drew was a girl, holding her stomach while blood pulsed out. Yet despite the drawings obvious pain, she wore a smile. (Position just like this: . )

After a few people saw that, more came over, growing more and more curious. Her picture so far looked sort of pleasant, no blood just yet. Finishing the body, she then began covering the girl in bandages. When she was finished, it was a drawing of a young girl covered in bandages, sitting in a hospital bed. (Like this: .com/image/anime%20hospital/gothchick323/anime_girl_ )

Mikan got bored of drawing, closing her book while in the middle of drawing cat ears on a little boy. _I can't take it!_ She cried to herself, shoving her book in her bag as she stood up. _Too many people, smiling, laughing...I can't stand it... _walking from the room, she ignored the questioning voices and slammed the door. _Why can't... why can't I laugh like that!?_ She began running, and did not stop until she reached her dorm.

The class stared at the door and Hotaru wore a fierce grimace. She wanted nothing more than to learn of Mikan's past, to learn of how her cheery childhood friend could turnout in such a way. " 'Why can't I laugh like that?' " Koko said, causing all eyes to turn to him.

"Huh?" Sumire asked.

Koko shrugged. "That's what she was thinking when she ran off. Before that, she was thinking 'To many people, smiling, laughing... I can't stand it...', but I didn't find that as interesting." He sat down then, leaving them all to wonder about Mikan's running thoughts.

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**This chapter was really short, too. Sorry :/ Thanks for reading ^.^**


	6. Shopping and an Old Ally

**This chapter is, yet again, shorter then it should have been, for which i apologize :/ Thanks to the reviewers ^.^ Enjoy your read!**

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**Chapter 6**

Mikan yawned, feeling a cold breeze rustle her hair. She snuggled deeper into the warmth of her blankets. It was a Saturday, so there was no need in getting out of bed. Well, no reason yet, anyway. She'd agreed to go to central town with Nonoko, Anna and Tobita today, and she got paid as well.

Reaching out with her foot, she kicked the alarm plant and groaned as it announced the time was 10am, meaning she needed to leave now to get on the bus. Although her mind urged her to move, her body refused to do little more then roll, even her eyesight was blurry.

After a while, she managed to rustle up the strength to roll, landing face first in the grass. After separating from the warmth on her bed, her body began to obey. Pulling off her covers, she yawned and pulled off her tank top before slipping out of her loose pyjama pants. Cold air blew through the window, causing her to shiver.

Mikan searched for the right clothes in her cupboard, glad that they were easily found. Those were to benefits of not having lots of clothes. After she was dressed, she tapped the plant, dismayed to find she'd missed the bus. "Damn it." She muttered, turning to her bunny-mobile. "I knew it'd come in useful, but I didn't think I'd need it so soon."

She drove out the door, coming to an immediate halt as she almost rammed into Natsume's immobile figure. "Crap. Move aside, cat boy. I'm late."

"It's the weekend, what're you gonna be late for?" he demanded as she revved the engine, surprised it was so loud. "What the hell is that?" he asked, pointing at the bunny-mobile.

"I'm going shopping with Anna, Nonoko and Tobita. And this is my bunny-mobile." She explained. "I missed the bus to central town, so I'm driving myself." She raised an eyebrow. "Why don't you come? Or have you got something better to do?"

Natsume shrugged. "Alright. I've got nothing better to do." He said. He slid in the passenger seat, making a comfortable grove in the soft seats. "So you missed the bus? You should get an alarm clock." He advised.

"I always break my alarm clocks because they wake me up." She smirked. "Let's go catch that bus." She said before she pressed the pedal to the floor, speeding into the elevator and smacking the ground-floor button.

"Goes faster than I thought it would." Natsume commented, smiling at the speed. He looked over to see Mikan smiling too, her hair blowing around in the wind. "Ah, you're smiling." He noted, causing her to grin all out.

"I love the feeling of the wind in my face," she said, turning to him slightly. "Which is why I love flying." She explained. After that, both were content to stay silent and enjoy the wind, up until they were behind the bus. Mikan beeped, catching the student's attention.

She saw Tobita and Nonoko, and soon after Anna, Sumire Luna and Ruka. They all waved, except Luna and Sumire, who just glared. Their violent intentions were clear as sunshine. Mikan stuck her tongue out at the two fangirls, who started banging on the window and shouting things she couldn't here.

"They really don't like you." Natsume noted, smirking and giving a nod to Ruka. He'd never met such a fascinating girl. No matter how many times he told himself she was ordinary, he couldn't convince himself. Especially not when she makes it so _hard_.

Mikan turned, grinned and shrugged. "They think I'm into you, so they dislike me. I wonder how they'd react if I actually did like you? They might even be pissed enough to inflict damage on me. If they got close enough. Maybe I should give them a chance, I haven't had a good fight for a while."

Natsume genuinely smiled while Mikan grinned, shaking his head and looking back at the bus, same with Mikan. They both noticed the extremely suspicious and surprised looking faces from the bus, and Mikan realized she was still grinning. "Ah, they've just seen you smile. Whatever shall you do?"

Mikan stuck her tongue out at him. "They saw me launch myself at Hotaru, too, and nothing changed." She said, shrugging. "Besides, it's not like I care about what they think of me. I am who I am and I'll do as I please." She announced, placing a hand over her heart.

Natsume shook his head. "Whatever, just watch the road. I plan to die outside of this academy, not inside." He thought for a moment, then added: "Or escaping…"

"Eh?" She asked, not catching his last words.

"Nothing."

--

When they arrived at central town, Mikan apologized for her absence, and greeted them somewhat warmly. Natsume was talking to Ruka when Youichi came up and started tugging at Mikan's shirt.

"Hello, Yu-chan!" she said, picking him up and hugging him tight. "How's everything been? Those high scholars **(A/N: Is that the right word?)** not picking on you anymore are they?" she asked, an evil glint sparking in her eye at the mention of high scholars. Youichi looked distinctly colder. **(A/N: Facial features not frost bite)** Mikan blinked, examining his face and his cold yet affectionate green eyes. "Eh? What's... wrong? Did I say something...?" she asked trailing off as he shook his head. "You don't look as cheerful as I remember you." She said. Although, she doubted she could talk. Mikan had her usual cold eyes and facial expressions also; simply not as harsh as usual. Youichi brightened her mood.

"I'm happy to see you, Mikan-senpai. If anyone picks on me, I can take care of myself again." He said, giving a small yet adorable smile. "You've done nothing wrong, I'm always like this." He pointed at her accusingly. "You're not wearing big smiles like last week either, onee." He noted, causing Mikan to smile small at his attitude. They were completely oblivious to the fact that people were soaking up every word that was said.

"I'm sorry." She said, trying to smile better but failing and dropping her cheeks. "I was smiling not long ago; it seems my cheeks are tired." She said, causing Youichi to grin. "Silly excuse isn't it?" he nodded. "What are you doing here? Meeting friends again?"

Youichi pointed to Ruka, who was holding a cute bunny and talking to Natsume. "I came with Ruka-pyon, and now Natsume-onii is here too. Is onii your friend, onee?" he asked.

Mikan shrugged. "I wouldn't use such a strong word as friend. More… peers? Acquaintance?" She said, thinking over whether or not she actually did consider him a friend. It was a tough call, and Anna, Nonoko and Tobita couldn't have arrived at a better moment.

"Ah, Sakura-kun!" Anna said, smiling. "Shall we go now? We're going to have lunch at the restaurant next to the clothing store afterwards. The stores are a bit of a walk, though."

Mikan nodded, sliding back into her bunny-mobile. "Quite a walk, maybe, but I assume I could fit at least 6 people onto the bunny-mobile." Natsume slid into the passenger seat, earning a scowl. "What do you think you're doing? There's no room for you."

Natsume smirked. "Didn't you just say you could fit 6 people?" he said, counting over the people that were coming: Tobita, Anna, Nonoko, Mikan, Natsume, Ruka and Youichi. "There's seven, but I can hold Youichi easily."

Mikan's eye twitched and she huffed, opening the boot. "It may not be very spacious," she said, watching Youichi hop into Natsume's lap. "But it'll get us there quicker... hold on." She stopped talking and got out of the car, getting the controller. "Do any of you know how to drive?" she asked.

Natsume nodded, causing Mikan to grimace. "Fine, you drive wherever Anna tells you too, I'll follow by air." She said, spreading her wings. "It's easier this way." She'd forgotten that only Natsume and Ruka had seen her wings, and the others were staring at her open mouthed. "Ah..." she scratched her head. "It's just an Alice, don't worry." She said, taking flight. "Moving would be appreciated."

Natsume moved into the driver's seat, and Anna hoped into the passenger seat to give him directions, Youichi sat on her lap. Ruka, Nonoko and Tobita didn't look uncomfortable at all, which Mikan was glad for. "It did good to cut and sew all of my uniforms after all." She said, smirking as they began driving.

It was peaceful for a time, but then an orange flash caught Mikan's eye, and her wings disappeared, causing her to fall from the sky. "Ah, nullification!?" She demanded, landing lightly on her feet by channeling the pressure into the sky as lightning bolts. The bunny-mobile came to an instant halt, and so did all of the people walking or moving. "Who? Who did it?" she hissed, scanning the area to spot a boy.

He had hair like Natsume's, only tipped in red. He's eyes were different colors; one was red and other was blue, not a good match but strangely attractive. He looked to be 16, and Mikan knew he was. He was smiling maliciously while twirling the nullification stone around on his index finger as a taunt.

Seconds later Mikan launched herself at him, tackling him to the ground and pinning him there. "What are _you_ doing _here_!?" She hissed. He struggled to lift his shoulders, and she slammed them back down into the concrete, almost smiling when he winced in pain.

He smiled innocently. "You haven't changed at all, Mikan. We've been looking for you." He said, rubbing his face against the hair that was spilling over her shoulders. Natsume and the others were now standing closely, observing and ready to move in and help. "You're dear brother. He's been waiting..." he said, noting Mikan's grip faltered at the mention of a brother. "Yes, Mikan. Akira's been waiting." Her grip slipped, and he changed the positions in an instant: now Mikan was the one that was pinned.

She stared up at him. "A... Akira...? But..." she shook her head furiously, clenching her teeth tightly together. "Akira's dead, jackass! Get your filthy blood stained hands off of me! She cursed, struggling under his grip. She couldn't use her Alice's, he had the nullification stone. She'd made one for him.

He smiled widely. "Why, little sister? We were all such a happy family." He said, touching their foreheads together and staring her directing in the eyes. When he spoke, his lips brushed hers. "We just want you to come home; nobody cares about what you did, Mikan. Nobody cares anymore." He kissed her lips, slipping his tongue in as she gasped, but she didn't move. "I've missed yo—," he stopped short, flipping himself backwards to roll on the ground.

Mikan flung herself up, about to attack when she realized he was on fire. At first she was at loss for an explanation, but then she realized it was Natsume. The nullification stone was quick to halt the flames. Natsume seemed to be in killer mode. Mikan shuddered. Youichi ran over to Mikan, looking up at her with worried eyes. "Are you okay onee?" he asked, tugging at her shirt.

She shook her head. "He kissed me, and it tastes foul. I'm in desperate need of water. Hell, I'd wash my mouth out with battery acid right now if it burnt out that taste." She hissed, wiping at her mouth and started wiping her tongue. They all laughed a little, and she smiled. "I'm fine other than that, though."

Natsume was still glaring at the other boy, waiting for him to make any sort of movement. He flinched when Mikan placed a hand on his shoulder. "You okay?" he said. He was probably the only one there other than Mikan and the attacker who had any clue about what they were talking about and fighting over.

"I'm perfectly fine." She said, shooting daggers at the other boy. "Yusuke wouldn't dare harm me, especially if what he says is true and Akira is waiting. He's orders are clearly to take me back." She walked forward, but Natsume grabbed her arm, causing her to stop. "Eh?"

Natsume frowned. "Are you going to go back with him? He asked.

Mikan shrugged. "Not at the moment, no. I was merely going to ask for proof, because he will have some if he's speaking the truth. We always travelled with proof." She said, and continued walking with Natsume trailing after her.

"Wow, Mikan. You've only been gone for a week or two and you're already a marshmallow. Can't confront your own problems without male assistance? That's strange for a girl who grew up beating the crap out of guys twice her size." He taunted.

Mikan's eye twitched and she yanked her arm out of Natsume's grasp, smashing it into Yusuke's nose. Blood spurted out and she yanked him up by the collar, not bothering to ask any questions. He reached into his pocket and pulled out an envelope, handing it to her as she dropped him. She took the stone with her, which was his only means of defense. He knew instantly that there was no point in running or attacking, because she'd kill him in an instant if she wanted.

She opened the envelope, finding fake pictures and a single piece of paper that read:

**Sis, I miss you. Come home soon. It's lonely without you, Mikan.  
I love you, Akira.**

She finished the letter and smiled bitterly, scrunching the letter up and tossing it at he's head. "Alright," she said, walking out to the frozen Yusuke. "I don't appreciate being lied to, Yusuke. Have you forgotten that?" She said, gripping him by the collar again.

"I-I didn't know! Honestly! I've been at this school for a month on undercover work, honest! They just sent me the stuff an gave me the script, I never saw him! I—"

"Disgusting." Mikan hissed, tossing him a decent meter into the air with a disgusted scowl. "What's become of you? When you left to go undercover, I saw you off. I _admired_ you and your strength. Now look at the coward you've become." She snapped, shaking her head the way someone would shake away bad thoughts or memories.

Yusuke stayed quiet, dropping his head. "You should leave here, Mikan. They do things to kids like us, just ask Kuro Neko. Black cat… Hyuuga. He knows all about this, and soon you will too." He looked up, and there was moisture visible in his eyes. "I don't wanna see my… _our_ little sister get hurt. Akira would never forgive me if I allowed that, Mikan. You know that as well as I do."

Mikan's eyes softened visible, her evil aura disappearing. "Yusuke, they can't hurt me. You know they don't stand a chance." She grabbed him roughly, pulling him to his feet. "Tell me, what are they doing to you? Whose causing you pain? Tell me, and I'll stop them."

"You… no." Yusuke stuttered, glancing away from Mikan's glare. "Ah… th-the elementary school principle… and my teacher, Persona…" He trailed off, but saw Mikan's glare and obediently continued. "There's this class, the DA class. They take away our precious things and blackmail us into working for the school. They put these… the thing around your neck, and the earrings and thigh-bands. Those, they stop Alice use, or restrain it."

"I'll deal with him, I promise." She stated firmly, pulling him into a hug. "I missed you, Yusuke." She declared happily, warm memories buzzing through her eyes. She'd been in this position so many times before, it felt safe. Comfortable, and familiar.

"I'm going shopping now, so I can't get right to it, sorry. Don't worry though, I'll fix everything. Akira would have wanted it this way." She smiled, waving goodbye and leaving him to think over everything she'd said.

"You really haven't changed a bit, Mikan." He said to himself, shaking his head as he walked away.

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**Thanks for reading!**


	7. Course of action

**Thanks for the reviews and sorry for the wait (again)! I'm getting slack, I know, but school ends Thursday next week! I promise I'll update more often then! :D!**

**Don't pay to much attention to the name of this chapter, because its more or less just the only name I could think of :) Enjoy, hear's chapter 7!**

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Shopping was now at the top of Mikan's to-do list, which was good, due to the fact they'd finally arrived at the clothing store. Fortunately no other problems were raised on the rest of their trip.

"Ah, Mikan-chan! Why don't you buy a dress?" Anna asked, holding up a soft pink dress that looked about Mikan's size. "What about this one? I bet pink suits you best."

Mikan shuddered at the mental image of her wearing a dress like that. Sure, dresses were fine, but pink lacy dresses with puffy frills and sparkles? Not in this lifetime. "Err, I'm good. I'm just getting pajamas, exercise clothes and maybe something to where while I skip." She shrugged. "Why would I need a dress like that, anyway? It's not like we're going to a ball."

"You're not?" Nonoko asked, popping out with a silver dress similar to the pink one. "How come?" She asked, pouting.

"Eh?" She asked, perplexed. "What do you mean?"

"The masquerade ball," Anna said, raising an eyebrow. "For Christmas, you know. We have a party and a ball. In elementary school you don't need to pick a dress because you get given costumes, but now we get to pick our own!" Anna and Nonoko squealed, searching for more dresses.

Mikan sweat dropped, shaking her head. "Oh joy." She muttered sarcastically, strolling over to the dress section after she picked out a pair of winter pajamas and summer pajamas. Instantly, one dress caught her eye, drawing her too it. "Hmm..." Examining the dress, she noted the smooth black silk before pulling it off the rack and checking the price tag to find it cost 2,500 rabbits. "Couldn't hurt..."

"So you do plan on going?" Natsume asked, strolling up with Youichi, Ruka and Tobita.

Mikan shrugged, moving over to some more casual clothes after placing the black silk dress back on the rack. "Nope. I just like the material is all. I was going to cut it up and make it into something more useful." Natsume didn't buy it, but the others did. "Disappointed?" she asked, smirking.

He smirked. "Overjoyed. I couldn't picture an ugly like you getting dressed up to go dancing at a ball, anyway. You'd be better off hiding out inside your dorm-sized-forest."

Mikan's smirked dropped, and she walked away from him after grabbing a white singlet. By the time she'd finished, she'd spent 10,000 rabbits on two pairs of pajamas', a pair a denim short shorts and knee length cotton stretch pants and two white shirts. Simple and easy. Although the entire time she had that dress stuck in her head. _Screw it._ She thought angrily, glaring at Natsume across the store.

Nonoko and Anna finished shortly after, grabbing Mikan and rushing into the next store along, that just so happened to be a shoe store. Strange. "Ah, Mikan-chan didn't buy a dress!" Anna said, saddening. "Aren't you coming to the ball?"

Mikan made a _blanch_ sort of noise, shaking her head. "Natsume was right. An ugly like me would only lower to good mood at an event like that." She stated, hiding her displeasure. She'd never been to a ball, little own a masquerade ball, and she'd love to try it. "Anyway, I've got better things to do. I could be playing video games or something."

Anna and Nonoko gave up, going to select some shoes. Yet again, a pair of shoes drew Mikan to them, and she snatched them up, checking the 1,000 rabbit price before rushing over to the counter to buy them before someone noticed. She succeeded, stuffing them into her clothing bag before browsing the store to purchase suitable runners.

Natsume had watched her purchase the shoes, and instantly felt a pang of guilt for putting her off the ball. Frowning, he walked out of the shoe store. Mikan still had the dress in her head, now matched with the while stiletto's. The dress was black with a white belt around the mid section, no sleeves, and looked like it'd brush just above her knees. _Stupid Natsume, he's such a jerk._ She thought menacingly, purchasing her jogging shoes along with a pair of black slipper-boots.

Nonoko and Anna bought shoes that matched their dresses but were nice and cheap. Obviously, they couldn't afford anything to flashy. Natsume, Tobita, Ruka and Youichi were sitting outside, obviously growing tired of waiting for the girls to quit shopping. Spotting Natsume, Mikan instantly noted the bag he was holding.

"What did you buy?" She asked, curious. He must have gone somewhere while they were shopping, but where? And what could he have purchased? She hadn't taken him for the sort to enjoy a shopping trip.

Natsume shrugged. "None of your business, ugly." He replied, standing. "Cafe time. We need food." He said, ignoring her evil glare. The others silently obeyed, walking off, Mikan was between Ruka and Anna, Youichi on her shoulders. Natsume was in front of them, beside Tobita. Mikan willed for Natsume to spontaneously combust, but realized that with his Alice it probably wouldn't do much.

She saw an arts and crafts store, and quickly made everyone halt. She rushed in and bought two buckets of midnight blue wait, and several smaller containers of whatever for wanted. 4,600 rabbits left. The paint weighed a lot, so she had to carry them in the bunny-mobile, which meant she had to drive.

She also made a mental note to remember buying a writing book for classes, in case she choose to attend or found something worthwhile.

--

When the shopping was done, Mikan travelled separately to everyone else again. Natsume caught the bus too, because Mikan took off without even saying good bye to him.

She arrived back at her dorm and unpacked everything, putting all of her clothes away. She pulled out the shoes, examining them. Christmas was a month away, she could buy a dress if she really wanted to… but did she really want to?

Huffing, she placed the shoes in the cupboard and carelessly tossed the other two bags into the closet to be dealt with later. With that all dealt with, she began waiting her walls.

--

Monday morning, Mikan was up and dressed to go to class. _On time_. She was amazed at herself. Not precisely 'proud', but almost there. She'd not gone to school at all since she was eleven, so she expected she'd be behind in her studies. There was no point in it, anyway. Everything she needed to know could be stolen or copied from another's mind, the same way she stored Alice's.

When she arrived at class Mikan was pleased to find that a few classmates had gotten over the stare-a-thon that occurred every time she appeared. Some, but not many. She'd go to 'Special Ability Class' today. Well, normally she would; but she had other plans.

She'd made a promise to Yusuke to deal with the elementary school principle and the so called 'Danger Ability' class. Yusuke seemed to doubt her ability to persuade him – or threaten him – into listening to her, but she was confident she'd find a way.

Mikan sat down and pulled out her work book, and a manga called 'Special A' that she'd bought yesterday. Narumi entered soon after, smiling and announcing himself to the class. It suddenly occurred to Mikan that he might actually be…

"Are you a transvestite?" She asked in a clear, curious – but, of course icy, - voice that pierced through the calm classroom atmosphere. She hadn't meant to blurt it out, it just slipped off her tongue without her consent. It shouldn't matter, anyway. She meant no harm, didn't plan to offend him or embarrass him. She was merely curious.

Narumi cleared his throat, smiling a little as he's cheeks heated. "No, Mikan-chan. I'm this beautiful by nature." She placed his things on the desk. "Any other questions?"

"Yes," she said, straightening up. "Are you male or female? _By nature_, of course." She tapped her pacer against her desk, causing the lead to inch out further.

Narumi blushed deeply, muttering something under his breath. "Male." He said, clearly annoyed and embarrassed. "Now that that's all cleared up, let's check the attendance." He said, continuing on to mark the class roll. He tried to ignore the snickers wafting around the room.

Sumire turned around in her chair, casting Mikan a disgusted leer. "Don't think you're cool all of a sudden, Sakura. We all know that you're doing this to get closer to Ruka and Nat—," **BAKA! **Sounded out of nowhere, and suddenly a fist flew through the air, knock Sumire backwards off her chair. "Ouch!" She cried, rubbing her head. "What the hell are you doing, Imai!?" Sumire demanded.

Mikan glanced up at Hotaru with longing eyes, resisting the overwhelming urge to wrap her arms around Hotaru. She still considered Hotaru her best friend, no matter how many years had passed between their childhoods.

"I randomly fired. It hit the closet idiot, you can't blame me. The gloves have minds of their own." She stated simply, sounded cold and sophisticated. There was a small spark of amusement and pleasure in her eyes though, Mikan saw it.

Narumi pretended to remain oblivious to the disruption as he wrote down common English phrases on the board before commanding the class to write it all down. Mikan stared at the bored, fascinated. She remember when she was ten, and how she used to treat her teacher like the king of the world. She'd never disobey his or her orders in the classroom, it was their sacred kingdom.

But now? There were too many words and too much effort. Why should she have to obey a man who claimed to remain a man while dressing in purple and white frills with luscious blonde hair a female would kill for?

But still, unwilling to cause yet another disruption and claim the classes attention again, she made the decision to copy it her own way. With this conclusion she store to the board, placed a hand on its surface, and then walked back to her seat.

Natsume raised an eyebrow, questions her previous actions. "That was… unusual. Did you have a purpose?"

Mikan shrugged. "SEC Alice, remember? Copy, it's what I do. No need to waste paper now, is there?" despite her comment about wasting paper, she began doodling aimlessly on her open page. When she was done she'd drawn a picture of a monkey, a spear and a banana.

"How are they connected?" Natsume inquired.

Mikan shrugged, _again._ Definitely becoming habit. "Monkey's eat banana's, right?" she examined the spear, and then drew a stick figure beside it. "The man's going to fight the monkey for the right to devour the banana." She declared, writing it underneath the picture.

"That seems rather pointless." Ruka added, glancing at her scribbles. "I know animals, and I know the monkey would take off without the banana if it meant his life would be spared."

Mikan narrowed her eyes, scribbling on the monkey. When she was done, it was in a giant robot with rocket launchers and laser beams attached to the arms and legs. "Now who do you think would win?" She asked, smugness in her tone.

Ruka chuckled, shaking his head in dismissal. "Tough call." He said, giving the monkey another examination. "I'll put my money on the monkey."

"The robot would never work." Hotaru said, seating herself in front of Mikan on the other side of her desk. "The legs are too skinny for the bulk torso, and the arms would drop off or stiffen to the point where they couldn't move."

Mikan blinked, surprise sweeping over her features. For a moment, all she did was stare. "Ah… I guess you're right." She said cautiously, preparing to make her escape. She hadn't spoken to Hotaru since her first day, when she'd launched herself at her like a missile. What if she wanted answers again? Would she be brave enough to tell her the same things she'd told Natsume?

A blank expression fell over her face, making it obvious to anyone watching that she was thinking deeply on a pressing issue. Why would she tell _Natsume_ everything, when she wouldn't tell Hotaru, her _best friend_? Where was the sense in it? _If she asks, I'll tell her_. She decided, focusing on the outside world once more.

"… How've you been?" She asked lowly, watching her words and keeping her voice steady.

Hotaru simply stared at her like she'd gone insane, before a small, unnatural – for Hotaru – smile pulled the corners of her lips up. "Better now." She said in a cold but strangely warm voice.

Mikan unconsciously broke out a ridiculous grin, one she didn't bother trying to repress. "I missed you, Hotaru."

Hotaru nodded in agreement. "I missed you too, baka." She said in an affectionate voice.

--

Mikan was sitting outside of the elementary class 3-A, waiting for Youichi to try and make his way to his Dangerous Ability class. She'd hacked into the system to find the way there after the teachers refused to give her the information. Computer hacking was one of the many skills she'd learnt in the AAO, probably one of the more useful.

She'd had a small, happy smile on her face the entire day after speaking to Hotaru and exchanging stories – although she didn't dare reveal her past in a classroom surrounded by prying ears. She planned to reveal that horror story at a later date, somewhere more private where nobody would hear. She loathed the idea of sympathy from others.

But right now she was busy planning to confront the DA class teacher, and then afterwards the elementary school principle. She'd get rid of the DA class, no matter what it took. She'd fought with the DA class while she was in the AAO, almost killed some but was stopped by Akira. He'd always hated bloodshed.

But, back then she'd assumed they were just scum that wanted to be paid by to school to perform their dirty work. She had no idea that they were _forced_ into that sort of work, and now she deeply regretted all of the deaths and injuries she had caused. She could blame Reo for that, though. Him and his stupid voice pheromones. Thinking of these memories caused her silly smile to drop into a cold scowl.

A single bell chimed and the teacher dismissed the class. Students filed out, casting glanced at Mikan before glancing away with fearful eyes. She looked like she was about to murder someone. Of course, there was always that possibility.

Youichi was the last to leave the class, looking enraged but still the cutest child she'd seen. He glanced at her, then away, then back with wide confused eyes. "What are you doing here?" He blurted out on impulse, not bothering with his usual big sister formalities.

"I'm going to class with you, to talk to your teacher. The computer system's information indicated that the room changes every day, and that only the students knew where. So, I'll be attending class with you. Now, shall we leave?" her scowl was gone, but no smile lifted her flawless features.

Youichi's face fell blank. "Nee-san… no. Persona is a _bad_ person, I won't—"

"Youichi," she said in a firm voice full of authority from her AAO days. "Stop acting like you have a choice in the matter." She held out her hand in offering. "If you refuse to take me, I'll go follow Natsume or Yusuke. I'm going, either way. I just wanted to see you." She smirked.

Youichi sighed, taking her hand. He led her down the hallways and outside. They ended up in an admin block, and when the door opened, every set of eyes in the room fell on her and Youichi, two of which were familiar. Yusuke's were filled with joy and confusion, while Natsume's were filled with distaste and something that looked like… fear? No, more likely anger.

Mikan was unfazed as a tall raven haired man wearing a strange white masked stepped towards her. "What business do you have here?" He asked calmly, shooting Youichi a vicious glare. Mikan felt Youichi shudder, instantly becoming enraged.

"I'm here to inform you that Youichi will no longer be attending this class. Neither will any of the other students in this room that are not doing so of their _own free will_." She said without hesitation, staring him directly in the eye. "If you have a problem with that, I suggest we speak somewhere more private."

The very air seemed to freeze, not a sound could be heard except for Mikan's steady breathing. Youichi pulse beat from his hand to hers, indicating that he was very afraid. Nobody else seemed to be breathing.

Persona smirked. "You're a brave little girl, aren't you?" he said, sarcasm and annoyance obvious in his tone.

"Brave?" she repeated, mimicking his sarcasm but feeling no annoyance. "Bravery in not required when facing a dog. The dog can bark, but it cannot bite without orders from its _master_." She said calmly, while Persona's face fell into a scowl behind his mask, his lips stiffening. "It may require bravery to confront the master, but even then I doubt it will require much."

"You'll be coming with me." Persona said in a hard, fierce voice that implied violence if she were to disobey.

Mikan smirked. "Hai. Maybe I ask where we're going?" She asked, releasing Youichi's small hand.

"To visit the _master_." He growled, closing the door shut tightly behind her.

"Very well." Mikan replied, sounding bored. She was all but bored, though. She was anxious, but not fearful. Adrenaline rushed through her veins, causing her to grow more and more excited. It did not show, however.

_To the master indeed._ She thought sarcastically, smirking.

--

As Persona slammed the door, Youichi's legs failed him and he tumbled over, only to be caught by Natsume's strong arms. "Why did you bring her here?" he demanded, lifting Youichi onto a desk before crouching down so he was staring directly into his eyes.

"She said she'd come no matter what, that if I didn't take her she'd just follow you or Yusuke." He said immediately, obvious guilt in his voice. "I'm sorry, Natsume. I'm sorry He's taking her to the principle, isn't he? What's he going to do to her?"

Natsume glanced away at the window, gritting his teeth angrily. "It's not your fault Youichi, Sakura's just an idiot. She doesn't know her own limits." He snapped, thumping a fist into the desk despite the eyes watching him.

Surprisingly, Youichi nodded in agreement. "She is an idiot." He declared, dropping his face into his palms. "She'll be put in our class now, won't she Onii-san?"

Natsume nodded. "Obviously. Not unless we can stop them, which we can't unless we find a way out of this room." He muttered, sitting himself on the ground while staring at the light bulb. "What's done is done." He declared, closing his eyes as he ran through ways to get her out of the mess she'd dragged herself into.

_Damn you, Polka. What have you done?_

_

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**Thanks for reading! Reviews appreciated!**


	8. Mission

**Sorry this one took a little longer, but I guess this will probably be the rate I update at from now on, like, twice/thrice a week? Anyway, yeah :) thanks for all the reviews! Here's chapter 8!**

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**8**

Mikan followed Persona to a room, and then waited outside while he went in to warn the owner of the room of their arrival. When he came back out, he was no longer wearing a mask, and he was smiling maliciously. His eyes were bloodshot in a scary but attractive way.

"Nice eyes." She muttered, stepping into the room to face a child no older than ten. "You take orders from a ten year old? What the hell do you take me for?" she snapped, glaring up at him with eyes that ensured pain and misery.

The boy cleared his throat, staring with wise and old eyes that didn't suit his childish face. "Persona has informed me that you do not agree with my methods, and that you wish to break apart my class."

Mikan, still unsure of whether this was a prank or not, nodded reluctantly and pulled herself a seat on the other side of his desk. "I don't care what you want from me, but I know that I can be of use. I'll replace them, all of them." She said, watching his reactions carefully. "Release them all, though. I have… _knowledge_, of the AAO, and the strength to take them all on by myself. Of course, I'd need these bands taken off to do so."

Persona blinked in surprise. He hadn't expected anything like _that_ to come out of her mouth at all. He'd expected empty threats and such, but not an actual _deal_! Still, it was ridiculous for her to think she could take on the position of twenty other trained students.

The principle smiled. Those words were exactly what he'd expected, and he knew they were perfectly true. He'd already made preparations for when she would confront him. "Persona," he said, not looking away from Mikan's determined eyes. "Take off her restrictors. Now."

Persona blinked again, frozen for a moment before he could push himself to do his orders. It didn't make sense, but he wasn't one to question. The principle reached into his top draw and drew out a box. Persona placed the restrictors on his desk and stepped aside, waiting for further orders.

"I take it you've accepted my request, then?" Mikan asked, raising an eyebrow. She knew she'd win eventually, but she didn't think it'd be that easy. "With modifications, I assume. What's in the box?"

He opened to box, pulling out a choker with a lightening blue stone on it. He held it out for Persona. "Put it around her neck. Do not struggle, it's not a restrictor. It something to ensure you return from your missions."

Mikan was not convinced, but allowed him to proceed nevertheless, assisting by lifting her long brown hair out of the way. He clipped it on. "Now, press the silver button." Persona obeyed, pressing the buttons.

Mikan stiffened, feeling microscopic needles stab into her skin. The pain was brief, and subsided immediately. "What the hell was that?" She demanded, losing her composure as she reached for the choker.

"Ah, I wouldn't try to remove it if I were you." He said, causing Mikan to freeze. "If you pull that off you'll destroy your nerves, and permanently paralyze yourself." Mikan dropped her hands, glaring at him fiercely. He smirked, lifting a controller. "And of course, that stone is an Alice stone."

"Your point?" She pushed, wanting to get out of the room. She felt like she was suffocating.

"My point?" he examined the remote, then placed a finger over a red button, preparing to press it. "When you disobey me, I'll do this," he pressed the button, and electricity pulsed through her body, throwing her from the chair to the ground as she writhed in pain. He pressed a green button, and the electricity stopped, leaving Mikan panting on the floor. "Not very pleasant, is it?"

Mikan, still panting, lifted herself onto her seat again, trying to calm herself. "No."

Persona, who was practically evil incarnation, cringed. Even he thought that was cruel. Mikan on the other hand, had completely calmed her breathing so that everything was normal again. "I'll be handing one of these remotes to all of your classroom teachers, and you'll be transferring from the Special class to the Dangerous Ability class. Any objections?"

Mikan shook her head. "No. But you'll be releasing the other students, won't you?"

He smiled and nodded. "I will. Go now, Persona will give you a mission to fulfill. Ah, wait. Take this," he lifted a black mask from the box, tossing it to her. "Put it on, you'll be wearing that on your missions. It increases strength and Alice powers, so you'll be stronger. Also, it should help hide your identity. Never take it off on a mission." **(I _did_ have a picture, but I haven't got a clue where it went.)  
**

She caught it, examined it, then nodded. "Fine." She left the room after Persona, still holding to mask. "I'm getting a hair band before I go anywhere. I'll meet you back at that classroom. When I get there, I don't want to find anyone else there. Understood?" Mikan said.

Persona glared at her, placing his mask back on. "What gives you the right to order me around little girl? You—"

Mikan lifted a hand, and Persona found himself flat on his back. "I'm stronger then you. That's what gives me the right." She said, walking back towards her dorm. "They better be gone when I get back." She said, releasing her Alice's hold on him.

Persona gasped for breath, lifting himself from the ground in annoyance. Clearly, she was tougher then she looked.

--

Natsume opened his eyes at the sound of the door opening to find Persona standing by himself in the doorway. "All of you, out. You're all being transferred into classes that suit your Alice's. Out, now."

The students obeyed, confused but not complaining. How could they complain when they were being set free?

Natsume stood up and grabbed Youichi leaving the classroom with the others. He walked away, and when he heard the door close, walked straight back and sat beside the door with Youichi. Youichi knew not to speak.

_How did she do it!?_ Natsume demanded, running through the possibilities. None of them were pleasant scenarios. All of them led to the conclusion that she'd somehow taken the burdens onto herself, which was _not_ acceptable. He'd made an oath to himself that he'd make her laugh and smile again, not commit suicide.

The same sort of thoughts rushed through Youichi, each more unpleasant then the last. He couldn't help but blame himself, even though it had nothing to do with him.

After about ten minutes, a tall girl walked gracefully down the hallway. Her silky auburn hair was tied in high pony tail by a long black ribbon, and she had a black mask covering the top half of her face. Around her neck she wore a choker with Jinno's Alice stone in the middle.

Although it seemed impossible, the girl was obviously: "Mikan?" Natsume demanded, Jumping up from the ground to stomp over and grab her by the shoulders.

--

Mikan stepped into the hall way, then quickly jumped back behind the corner. _What the hell are Natsume and Youichi still doing here!?_ She demanded, pulling out the mask the principle had given her. _Maybe they won't recognize me…_ She but the mask on, took a deep breath and continued on her path.

She felt their eyes on her, but she did not look at them. She continued walking forward, her path unchanged. "Mikan!?" Natsume called, rushing over and clamping his hands on her shoulders. "What the hell are you doing idiot!?" he demanded, shaking her.

Mikan sighed, dropping her gaze from his furious red orbs. "Whatever the hell I want. Mind your own business, Cat boy." She snapped, trying to shove him aside but failing. She loathed the fact that men always seemed to be stronger than women. "Damn it Hyuuga, let me go!"

"No, Mikan. I won't." he said calmy, causing her to look up at him. She was caught off guard by the intensity of his stare. "What are you doing, Mikan?"

She realized then, at the same time he did, that he'd been calling her by her name. Not Polka, but her actual _name_. Strange, but she… like it? "I…" she trailed off, searching for an explanation. Nothing true seemed suitable, so she improvised. "Revenge, that's what." She declared.

Natsume frowned. "Is this about Akira? And your family?"

Mikan stiffened. "Yes." She said slowly, noticing his grip on her shoulders had softened. She could probably break free now, if she wanted to. "If you try to stop me, I'll use force, Hyuuga. Don't make me do that, please." She said, her voice wavering slightly. Something in his eyes… _makes my pulse race…_ she concluded, closing her eyes.

Natsume shifted, but did not move. "If you're going to get rid of me, you'll have to use force." He said firmly, watching as her clear brown orbs opened and stared directly into his. He saw her searching, and he saw her hurt. After a few moments, something changed, and he found himself up against the wall struggling for breath while she walked away calmly. "Don't, Mikan!"

Mikan halted, looked back with a cruel smile, and placed a hand on her hip in a show of defiance. "What makes you think I'd listen to you, Hyuuga? You're nothing to me_, nothing_. So I told you my life story, what makes you think it's true? What if I lied and I still work for the AAO? You don't trust me, and I don't trust you." She started walking away again, and then finished with: "You don't matter to me. No one does."

She released Natsume as she opened the door, and slammed it shut before he could reach her. Mikan felt something inside her chest crack as she felt him trying to pry the door open behind her. She'd locked it, and reinforced it with a shield. Same as the windows. He wasn't going to get in.

"Alright, Persona. What's my mission?" She asked, huffing in frustration and loss. The scarce feelings of happiness and safety she'd scraped off the ground in the past week had dissipated, never to be seen again.

He seemed to hesitate, but handed her the file. "Infiltrate and bring in as many as you can. If possible, capture Reo." She waited for more, which he realized. "That's it. Read through the file once you're out the gate, it'll tell you where you're going." He reached back and grabbed a bag. "The principle gave me this for you. Put it on." He walked out of the door after she removed her shield, and when he was gone she replaced it.

Mikan opened the bag, and pulled out a backpack and a plastic bag full of clothes. She pulled the clothes on, then the gloves. She was now wearing a simple long sleeved black shirt and black short shorts, easy to get around in. She didn't fail to notice that the back had been cut, so she could use her Angel Alice without problems.

The backpack was small and black, with a golden star that had GA inside of it. Inside it had a small but powerful flashlight, a folded up map of the AAO base she'd be infiltrating, a metal bottle filled with water, pills of some, sort a watch – which she took out and clipped to her right wrist – and a small silver cell phone. The cell phone had the principle's number and Persona's.

When she pulled the pack over her shoulders, she realized it'd been designed perfectly to sit in between her wings. "That's suspicious. He seems to have prepared for this…" Mikan shook her head furiously, refusing to believe she was walking into a trap. It didn't matter if she did, anyway.

Without further thought on the issue, she collected the file, opened the window, spread her wings and leaped out into open space.

--

Natsume clutched he's chest, breathing in as much air as he could. It took him only moments to figure out why – even though he'd smashed the handle and lock off – the door wouldn't open. She'd displayed one of her shield Alice's in the classroom, so he wasn't surprised. Just annoyed. Very, very annoyed, which was rare for him.

Youichi was on his knees, trying to work out if he was dying or not. "I'm fine, Youichi." He snapped. He hadn't meant to sound so harsh; he just didn't have the restraint to make it sound as if he was _calm_. She really _was_ an idiot, there was no other explanation.

_What sort of MORON willing hands themselves over to the principle!?_ He demanded, kicking a hole in the wall. Youichi flinched back as the splinters of wood sprayed out from the hole, coating the floor around them. He'd never seen Natsume so… angry? Was it anger? He didn't know, and he didn't have the guts to ask.

"I'm going… back to my room, Youichi. You'd do well to do the same." Natsume said, standing up and marching away down the hall way.

Youichi stared after him, watching as he left. He didn't want him to go; he was concerned for what he might _do_. But of course by the time he'd come to the conclusion to follow Natsume, he'd marched himself well out of sight. He had no hope of catching Natsume with his inferior speed and leg length, Natsume was, after all, seven years older than him.

--

Natsume cursed loudly as he followed the gazes of the students around him, earning their attention. He did not return the attention, though, because he was busy trying to think of a way to knock the oversized bird out of the sky before she got away.

It was futile, however, and he knew it. There was nothing he could do to prevent her idiocy as of today, but he'd have to figure it out as soon as possible. He'd already realized that offering himself in her place wouldn't work, she was – to his dismay – stronger and more experienced in the field then he was, despite his years of torment.

To combat her dangerous position, he'd need to convince _her_ that she had a reason to leave. Which meant he had to determine her reasons for becoming a vassal of the school, something he'd already completed. She was doing it for what she called 'revenge', which was nothing but foolishness. She was merely putting herself in the same position she'd been in previously, simply under another tyrants command. Possibly a much worse one.

So, he had her motivations, but how could he counter that? Revive her family, bring them back from the dead? Impossible, of course, but probably the only thing that'd convince her she had need or reason of life. What of Akira? What if he _wasn't_ dead, she was simply unaware of his beating heart? Of course that seemed unlikely, too, and relied on insane luck. Even if he was alive, how could he get to Akira without getting out of the Academy?

He could reclaim his previous position, if possible. But still that would be pointless if Akira turned out to be dead for real.

Natsume, now lying on his bed in his dorm, sat and contemplated for at least a good three hours, running back and forth over the story of Mikan's past that she had shared with him, until it seemed futile to continue. He often found himself straying from his determined path and questioning his own motivations to save her. Other questioned prodded at his mind, asking if she even _needed_ to be saved. Clearly she could handle herself.

Until finally, he recalled something that hadn't mattered at all, something vague in her story that she'd practically skipped over: The whereabouts of her sister, Hikaru…

**(Memories)**

The gates opened, revealing a scene of fire, smoke and bodies.

Mikan screamed, rushing into the trees. She was little, sure, but she was brave. After quickly climbing up a tall tree, she wedged Hikaru in between forked branches, commanding her to stay put. She went running towards the house, but her efforts were in vain. The gate was closed and locked, and she couldn't get in.

In the distance she saw her brothers fighting men in black suits, and she screamed for her parents. Ryuu turned to the sound of her voice, and then stopped moving completely…

**(Reality)**

Natsume's eyes popped open wide in astonishment. _How could I have missed that!?_ He demanded, slapping himself in the forehead. Then a more serious question emerged: _How could_ she_ have missed that?_ He asked himself, puzzled. What if she hadn't? Maybe she'd just lost hope… Surely, the girl could still be alive! Why would Mikan give up hope?

"What do I do now?" He pressured himself into more deep thoughts, coming up blank. Everything seemed to point in the direction of death for the girl, with no hope of survival. She was wedged in a tree for starters, and she was only three. How would a toddler fend for herself in the wilderness, if she ever even managed to get herself down from the tree without falling and cracking open her petite skull.

There was the possibility though that someone had found her, adopted and raised her. She could be living happily in Mikan's old town without knowing a thing about her past. He could go look for her, but he didn't know where Mikan used to live, and once again he had no way out of the academy. He couldn't fly the way she did, he possessed no wings.

However, he had no intentions to give up hope. At the very least he planned to alert her to the possibility that her younger sister was still alive and well.

--

Mikan, now standing on the academy wall with her wings retracted in order to avoid attracting _too much_ attention, opened the folder and read through the instructions. Inside were several profiles, existing of pictures and life stories, important facts, weaknesses and strengths, and family members that could be used as hostages.

**Name:**_ Hikaru Sakura_.

**Age: **_9_

**Found: **_(A/N:Err, whatever Mikan's home town is called? Got any idea's?_

**Rank and Reasons of Recruitment: **_Scout. Follows mission instructions but is otherwise independent. Joined for funding her hunt for her family. Joined by self, not captive._

**Alice/s: **_Nature, nullification_

**History: **_Found after a raid on an academy owned mansion in (Mikan's town), in tree._

**Family: **_Mother- Yuka Sakura (dead) Father- Izumi Sakura (dead) Siblings – Kei Sakura (dead), Ryuu Sakura (dead) and Mikan Sakura (Previously recruited, recently escaped to GA after wiping out the Dock HQ. No survivors found.) _

**Extra's: **_Is not aware of her sister's previous recruitment, and must not be informed. She spends every second of free time she has researching her family and searching for them. If she finds out about her sister she will leave, immediately. Under no circumstances is she to be informed on her living relative._

Mikan brushed a gentle gloves finger over the picture of the girl who looked so much like herself, just younger. Although an exact image of Mikan's past, the girl, Hikaru, showed none of the happiness Mikan had during her childhood.

There was no possible way that she could be mistaken, because everyone of her family's names were printed right before her eyes, _including_ her own and a photo image that looked _way_ to similar to Mikan to be a fluke.

"H…" she breathed the start, gasping for more air as she dropped to the ground before the wall. "Hikaru…" She repeated the name, this time in full. _She's alive!?_ She mentally screamed, dropping to her bottom on the ground as she glared at the sheet of paper with both anger and joy.

They'd had her sister all along, and she'd never known. They'd never told her. "WHY DIDN'T THEY TELL ME!?" She screamed, causing pedestrians to pause on their previously peaceful routes down the road. Mikan collected herself visibly, but continued fuming inside. _Just… just continue on with the information sheets, Mikan. On with the mission. _She told herself in an attempt to calm herself.

The next page caused her heart to skip a beat.

**Name**: _Akira Tokiwasha_

Mikan's eyebrow twitched in her restraint, veins throbbed in her forehead. Akira was alive. Was he? There was a picture of him right there. _Proof _ right there. But then she'd been the one to kill him… hadn't she?

Then it dawned on her that she'd never had the chance to check his pulse or his breathing after she stabbed him, had she? No. He'd teleported her away. What if he was saved by backup from another base? But then… why didn't he come after her?

"Hikaru…" she whispered, connecting the two. Akira was no idiot. They must have taken him to the other base for treatment, he would have seen Hikaru and he would have known it was her, or someone related to Mikan. Unless he was hallucinating and assumed he was seeing the younger Mikan again, which was certainly a possibility.

"Or, more likely, I'm the one hallucinating. Giving myself false hope in order to sate my hunger for blood relatives and familiar faces." She snapped at herself, pulling out the map to distract herself from her idiotic threads of hope and reason. The map did the opposite, though.

* * *

**Thanks for reading! Reviews appreciated :)**

"The base at my old home town…"


	9. Reunion

**:) Seems to be updating every four days... hmm... oh well, sorry. Last day of school tomorrow XD Here's chapter 9!**

* * *

9

Natsume slid through the middle of the large wooden double doors, pushing them further apart so he could fit he's pack through as well. His plan had been even easier then he'd first suspected.

He had Hotaru – who was also very concerned for Mikan's well-being – hack into the main computer system of the academy, then the principle private files, and then into his mission log, where they'd printed out a folder full of information identical to the one she had. The problem about involving Hotaru?

"Hurry up Hyuuga." She said, closing the door and almost taking off the tips of his fingers. "We haven't got all day."

Natsume closed his eyes, trying to calm himself. _"Hurry up Hyuuga, we haven't got all day."_ The line repeated itself in his head, over and over again. It felt to him like that's all he'd heard since he spoke with Hotaru only an hour ago. _**Why**__ did I tell her? Why bring this upon myself? _He demanded, opening he's eyes and closing the door. "You got the key, didn't you?" he asked, double checking for the 50th time that hour. He knew she had it, but he'd sworn to himself that every time she said 'hurry up hyuuga' he'd double check again.

Hotaru paid him no attention. She strode over to the door and beckoned him over, opening her mouth to repeat her previous statement. Natsume glared and stuck a hand over her mouth. "I know, _hurry up_. I get it." He snapped, removing his hand.

Reaching into his pack he pulled out the folder and the map, pointing out the location. Hotaru and Natsume linked arms and kept a mental picture – one they'd search on the net of the town, they couldn't find any of the actual base – and Hotaru put the key into the warp hole.

Everything swirled into a black hole, and they were gone.

--

Mikan, unable to use her wings in public, ran hard and fast along the streets. Anyone who was quick another to spot her would only see a fading blue, though, for she was using the Speed Alice. Simple and common, yes, but effective enough. Although it tired her out if she ran for too long and too far, like she was now.

Of course, leaping over every unmovable object in her path sure didn't help conserve energy. It didn't matter though; her weariness was trampled by anxiety, excitement and burning rage. It was impossible for her to banish that rage, and it would remain that way until she beat Reo's head into the ground.

As she came to the edge of Tokyo she jumped onto the looming 15 foot stone wall before her, and then threw herself off the edge. Glittering feathers burst forth from her back, a few excess feathers flittering down to the earth below as she thrust her winds and angels herself into a strong current that carried her high into the clouds into air so thin it labored her for breaths.

Every now and then she dipped below the clouds, checking her location, then immediately reconciled herself in the puffy white pillows of the sky. It took almost an hour of flat out flying and half a dozen near-collisions with flocks of migrating geese, but the town eventually came into view.

Hooking her wings close to her body she dropped, angling herself in a straight dive to the ground. A few meters before the earth she spread her wings and came to a jogging stop along the ground, pulling in her wings, she kept up the jog until she reached the town.

"I was born in that hospital." She said, staring at the small doctor surgery before her. It didn't really count as a hospital, but it was the closest thing the town had. "And then from here…" her voice drifted off as she followed a side rode along the edge of the town, which gradually angled upwards. Atop the hill sat the charred remains of her once beautiful child home.

Tears slid down her cheeks and she dropped to the ground, hugging her knees to her chest as tightly as she could, rocking back and forth slightly. "Mum, dad, Kei, Ryuu…. Dead. They're all dead, except Hikaru… Hikaru… my little sister…" her head snapped up as she heard a twig snap somewhere to her side, back towards the city.

"What the hell are you doing here!?" she demanded, leaping to her feet.

--

Hotaru and Natsume walked into the town slowly, surveying their surroundings. "No signs of destruction here. Maybe we got here before her." Hotaru said, tuning to face Natsume, who was glaring at every person who dared to cast a glance at him.

Natsume grunted, displeased. He highly doubted they'd arrived here before that crazed moron of a girl, Mikan. "I don't think –" he stopped, watching Hotaru's indifferent one turn into a mask of shock at some sight behind him. "What?" he demanded, spinning around to follow her gaze.

It was Mikan.

She was obviously about to kill herself. She was diving towards the ground like a comet, and she made no move to stop. "Kami!" He exclaimed, watching in horror as she came within twenty meters of the hard ground. A mere three seconds later her glossy white wings snapped out, and she tilted upwards, landing softly on her feet as she jogged off the road to the side.

Without hesitation he began running after her, looking to find Hotaru a good two meters in front of him. He smiled slightly at the sight of her, so concerned. He wondered, like he always did, what Mikan was like when she was younger. Hotaru had made it very clear that she'd obviously changed in the past years, a _lot_.

They halted as they rounded the corner. Mikan was staring up at the top of a hill at the charred remains of a house.

Tears slid down her cheeks and she dropped to the ground, hugging her knees to her chest as tightly as she could, rocking back and forth slightly. "Mum, dad, Kei, Ryuu…. Dead. They're all dead, except Hikaru… Hikaru… my little sister…" she whispered, her body quivering with sobs.

Hotaru took another step forward, snapping a twig under her weight. Mikan's head snapped up in alarm as she leapt to her feet, ready for an attack. "What the hell are you doing here!?" she demanded, fury burning in her tainted chocolate orbs. Tear trails stained her cheeks, and her eyes were slightly swollen.

"We came to take you back, baka." Hotaru snapped, striding forward. "What possessed you to do such an idiotic thing? Did you think you could deal with everything by yourself? Idiot! Idiot, idiot, idiot!" she snapped. When she was close enough, her arm snapped out and she struck Mikan across the face with an open hand, leaving behind a perfect red handprint. Hotaru looked surprised that it hit.

"I suppose I needed that." Mikan said, turning to Hotaru with a small, sad smile. "I wanted to see. That's why. I wanted to see if he was really dead. And you know what?" she swung her bag around, opened it and ripped out a folder. She then pulled out a piece of paper, waving it in Hotaru face. "He's not! And you know what else!?" she demanded. It was hard to tell if she was furious or to happy to be coherent. "Netiehr is Hikaru! Not dead, alive!"

Hotaru took the pieces of paper, examining them. "She looks just like you used to. Minus the goofy smile." Hotaru said, dragging a finger across the paper. "And this is Akira?" she asked, pointing to the boy.

Mikan nodded, ecstatic. "I'm going to get them. Both of them. And then I'll kill Reo and every other one of the bastards." She growled, punching the walls. A brick shattered, and the skin on her knuckles split. She pressed a hand to her knuckles, healing them. "They had her. They all knew but me. But they never told me. They let me _suffer_. Now I'll show them all how it feels."

Natsume strode over, glancing over Hotaru's shoulder to see the pictures. _Her expression looks just like Mikan's,_ he decided, glancing back up at her, fuming in rage, then back down at the picture. _No. Similar, but Mikan definitely looks sadder and more aggressive._

"You can't kill them all, Mikan. That would be atrocious." Hotaru whispered, handing the paper back to Mikan. "You shouldn't kill anyone. Capture Reo, and take back your siblings, but don't hurt anyone." She pleaded. Natsume frowned, disoriented. He'd never seen Hotaru beg, and she was always the first one to attack if she was annoyed.

"Why? I…" she trailed off, watching Hotaru's pleading violet eyes. "I won't…. _kill_, anyone. But hurting them will be necessary if I want to get my little sister and big brother out of there." She stated, pursing her lips. _And here I'd been planning out the most sadistic death for Reo I possibly could… perhaps I could 'accidently' drop him from the sky…_

Hotaru gave a nod, and spread out the map she was holding. "We're here," she said, pointing to the outside wall. "And we need to be here." She said, pointing to a large ware house near the other side of the town. It was probably the biggest building in the place.

"Let's do it." Natsume sighed, shaking his head. "I've got scores to settle as well."

--

They three of them slid between the crates inside of the warehouse, stalking two men in black suits as they strode across to a crate and pushed it aside, revealing a number pad and a slightly raised platform of steel. _Trap door…_ Mikan thought, glaring.

The men were oblivious to the fact they were in the middle of an ambush. They were surrounded, and defenseless. They couldn't harm Hotaru, Mikan or Natsume with Alice's; because of the Nullification Alice stones Mikan had made and given them. And none of the three were worried about the chances o being bested in hand –hand fighting. Although problems may arise if they pull out guns.

One of the men bent down, typing in a four digit code. The number pad's screen flipped over, revealing a hand pad, which he pressed his palm into. It clicked, flipped back over, and there was a loud metal clang. "Now!" Mikan cried, launching herself off a sturdy stack of crates and coat-hanging the two men. Natsume and Hotaru grabbed them, knocking them out and binding them before dumping them in empty crates.

Mikan dropped down the ladder, ready to attack. There was a hall way with one large metal door down the end, and several wooden doors on either side. Nobody but her was in the hallway though. Until Natsuem and Hotaru climbed down to join her.

"The metal doors where we'll find Reo, along with every other important person." Mikan said, turning. "The rest will lead off to kitchens, bathrooms, hot springs, prisons, interrogation rooms, sleeping quarters, and for the higher ranks they've got select areas that contain each." She smirked, strolling forward to read the carving on the first door. "Bathrooms. I told them they were idiots for labeling everything." She muttered.

"We start here and continue through each until we knock them all out of find Hikaru and Akira. Then we get Reo and any others we can, and then I'll teleport as back to the academy." Mikan said, opening the door handle with a gloved hand. They scouted out the bathrooms, knocked out all three occupants, and then regrouped back in the hallway.

The process continued that way, and each time they only found small amounts of people. They went through the kitchens, bathrooms and high ranks sleeping quarters. When they entered the normal sleeping quarters at least twenty conscious heads turned towards them, while at least another 50 were sleeping.

"Gakuen Alice scum," hissed a man with tousled black hair, who had been reading a book. He dropped it and sent bolts of electricity flying towards them, only to have Mikan send them flying straight back at him and his comrades.

"Hah!" she snorted, pulling off her mask. "You're a fool, Kouga! Don't you remember me!?" she laughed maliciously, and they set to wiping out every conscious person in the room, and all those who woke up from their slumbers. Of the 50, twenty remained sleeping. She put her mask back on.

Mikan pulled out the pills that had come with her bag and walked around, popping one into each person's mouth, clamping a hand over their mouths so they had to swallow. Then they fell sleeping.

"That was a fortunate guess," she declared, rattling the pills in their rectangular container. "I didn't know what they'd do, to be honest, but it seems to be working the way I'd hoped. Is that all of…" she turned around with a smirk, then froze as she saw about thirty people blocking the exits. Hotaru and Natsume were being held tightly, knives to their throats. "Damn." She exclaimed, shoving the pills back in her pack. "Here I thought it'd be easy."

Reo stepped forward with narrowed eyes. "Sneaky little vixen, aren't you? Why don't you take off that pretty little mask, I'm sure your face looks better." He stated. She shook her head, and he clicked. The men holding Hotaru pushed her to the ground and pulled her head back, a drop of blood slid down her throat. "How about now?"

Mikan cursed inwardly and started laughing. "You think those fools matter to me, Reo? I could kill you all with the flick of my wrist, yet you think you're going to threaten me with the lives of two losers Persona dumped on me to babysit? Mikan said you were a clueless idiot, but she didn't go into detail." She laughed again, shaking her head.

"So Mikan did go to the academy." Reo muttered, clenching his teeth, he twisted his earring, while others placed earplugs in their ears. "You will remove your mask and join us. Come on, we'll treat you well here. We're all friends in AAO." He smirked as Mikan reached for her mask.

"You haven't worked out who I am yet? Truly, Reo, that's disappointing. Tell me, because I'm curious. How did Akira survive when I wounded him so horribly? Who healed him? I'd like to know, so I might spare them." She pulled off her mask, glaring coldly at Reo, who gasped and staggered backwards. "Release the academy's fools, Reo. They're probably the most talented of my fellow classmates. They can almost keep up with me." She smiled sweetly, but in a way that hinted he would soon experience horrible suffering. "I'll bargain with you: Release them, tell me where Akira and Hikaru are, and I won't kill you or anyone else in the room right now."

Reo swallowed, and she could tell he was thinking about her offer, eager for means of survival. He beckoned for the two to be released, and they were. Staggering forward, Natsume helped Hotaru up. When they were half way across the room the floor cracked and vines sprouted from the floor, imprisoning them both.

"Who are you, and what do you want with me and Akira?" a sweet, bell like voice rang out with a razor sharp edge.

From the crowd squirmed a petite girl with long brown hair that was tied in pigtails on either side of her head. She a red skirt and a black long-sleeved shirt with black boots. Her face was grim and curious, her eyes projecting her thought: so much as twitch and I'll crush them with my vines.

"Hikaru?" She gasped, stumbling forward a step only to have the girl raise a hand. "I… you… alive, breathing!" she exclaimed, trying to arrange her thoughts. "It was you, really. You're alive! Where's Akira? Is he here? Is he well? Can I… err… right…" she trailed off, shaking her head. "Sorry about that."

"Are you mentally impaired, girl? Answer my question immediately, or I'll break their legs in your honor." She said, tightening the finds by closing her hand slightly

"My name is Mikan. Mikan Sakura. I'm your big sister." Mikan said slowly, watching her features as then turned blank, every muscles in her body tensing. "I… we came to get you. And Akira, and to capture, or preferably kill, Reo." She shot a distasteful look at Reo, who, consequently, was still tainting precious oxygen.

Hikaru remained still and stiff, staring at Mikan, her gaze trying to soak every inch of her in. Her eyes narrowed. "Why should I believe you?" she demanded, but Mikan could see her eyes shining. Their resemblance was too great to be doubted.

Mikan fumbled around for an answer, but found none. "I don't know…" she muttered, scratching her head in dismay. "I'm telling the trust. You had two brothers, too, called Kei and Ryuu. Mum's name was Yuka, and dad's name was Izumi. We lived up on that hill, in the big house. The AAO killed them and burned our house down. I was taken to live with granddad. It's… it's my fault. I tried to go help, but you were so little and I didn't want you to get hurt, so I climbed and tree and left you there. Then they took me away and erased all of my memories about what had happened." She smiled sadly. "It's so nice to see you, standing there. Even if you hate me for leaving you, or don't believe or trust me at all. I thought I was all alone."

Hikaru's chest shook once, and then her entire frame began quivering. She began laughing, tears sliding down her plump cheeks. "They told me nothing. _Nothing_." She growled, releasing Hotaru and Natsume and throwing the vines at Reo. "Was it him?"

Mikan grinned fiercely, both happy and furious. "He knew we were related. And he knew how we both felt. Yet he kept us separated out of fear of us leaving. Don't kill him, though. I need him alive. It'll be much more painful for him that way."

Natsume and Hotaru walked over to Mikan as Mikan walked forward to them. Mikan flicked her wrist in the direction of Reo, freezing his body but leaving it so he could breathe. "Everyone else out. Now. Don't try to leave, the exit is sealed. I won't hurt any of you if you bring me Akira." Mikan said, turning away from Hikaru. "And—_Gah_!"

Mikan got cut off as the wind blew out of her upon the impact of Hikaru's tiny body colliding with hers, knocking them both to the ground. It took a moment for her to register that she was not under attack. Hikaru was hugging her tightly, repeatedly saying, "Alive!" and "Sister!". Mikan hugged her back, laughing silently to herself.

Everybody left, and they remained in their embrace, refusing to move or speak. Hotaru and Natsume watched with fascination at the happiness radiating out of the previous cold, seemingly heartless Mikan. The door creaked open, and both the girls, snapped their heads to the door, where a tall brunette boy stood in the frame, panting and sweating.

"Akira!" Mikan cried at the same moment Hikaru did. Then they laughed, and Mikan picked Hikaru up, flipping her onto her shoulder and rushing toward Akira.

"Mikan…" he whispered as Mikan wrapped her arms around him. "I missed you, squirt."

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**Thanks for reading! Reviews appreciated! **


	10. Lock Down

**Okay - I think I probably went a little _too fast_ with this chapter, shoving to many things in that should have been expanded. Not to mention how damn long it took me to actually finish the stupid thing and upload it. What's it been? Like, a week? I'm sorry, and i understand completely if you've all lost interest because of the wait .**

**Anyway, chapter ten. Read and enjoy!  
**

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**10**

Natsume and Hotaru watched with caution as the three practically-siblings embraced. Hikaru and Mikan were sisters by blood, but Akira was just a brotherly figure to Mikan.

Even though she was crying, it was obvious, for the first time since Natsume had seen her – even when she projected her big fake smiles, – she was finally happy. It mixed emotions inside of him, but overall, he found himself glad. He was glad that he'd been able to help, even if it was just a small part.

"Reo's still shriveling up in a corner over there. Odd. Is he like this when you attack the AAO?" Hotaru asked quietly, unwillingly to disturb the happy reunion.

Natsume followed her gaze, frowning at the sight. "No." he shook his head. "Normally they'd bring in hundreds of reinforcements. And that's only if we don't get controlled by his Alice. Usually we end up retreating."

"Then they must just be afraid of Mikan," she concluded, smirking. "Obviously. They're the ones that trained her. They made her the way she is. If anyone knows her strength, it would be them. But that means they know her weaknesses too." She thought, then turned back to the trio. "Do you think she has any weaknesses?"

Natsume thought back to their previous conversation, and found himself nodding. "Her weakness is her strength." He said, smiling a small smile. "People. She hates seeing the people she cares about being hurt. That's probably why they kept her sister away from her. They thought they could use her hatred for the murderers – the academy – to destroy them."

"Hey!" Mikan's voice bounced around in the room as she slid out of the embrace. Lifting Hikaru from her shoulders, she placed the child on the ground. "When we get back, Hotaru, Natsume, I'd like you to keep these two safe. Take them to see Narumi, get them enrolled. I'll deal with the principle and Reo. Plus, we have to leave now, or they'll gather the courage to attack."

Mikan strode across the room, picked up some rope off the ground, and tied it around Reo's ankles and wrists, then gagged him and blindfolded him by tearing parts of his shirt off. When he was bound, she dragged him across the ground and dropped him. "Alright. Everyone hold hands, or you'll be left behind." Mikan grabbed Hikaru's hand and Akira's, Hotaru joined with Hikaru and Natsume, and Natsume completed the circle by reluctantly taking Akira's hand. They all placed a foot on Reo, and then the world swayed and fuzzed out in the blackness.

When the world came to a halt, they found themselves lying in a circle of people, on the grass with the sun shining brightly in their eyes. "Uh… where are we?" Mikan questioned, pulling herself into a sitting position to check that everyone was there. They were.

"The Academy lawn." Said a familiar voice. Narumi… "Mind explaining what's going on here?" he said cautiously, eying the group with undisguised suspicion.

"It has nothing to do with you." Mikan said, standing. "I've found two new students. Please have them enrolled as soon as possible. They'll tell you what you need to know." She nodded, smiling, to her siblings, who nodded back and stood. "Hikaru Sakura, and Akira Tokiwasha."

Narumi's eyes softened as he heard Hikaru's name, and he did not argue. "Come along." He said, gesturing with a hand to Natsume and Hotaru. "You two come as well, you can show them around after they've enrolled."

Mikan watched them go, then examined the group of students staring at Reo and her in wonder. _Great, I caused a scene. Again. _She smiled, thinking of her sister, then grabbed the collar of Reo's shirt. "We'll be leaving now." She declared, spreading her wings. She took off towards the elementary school block, and landed on the windowsill of the principle office, glad to find it open. She dropped Reo, through the window.

The thud of his body hitting the ground caused the principle to turn around. "There." She said, watching his passive face turn into one of shock. _How amusing…_ she thought, resisting the urge to laugh at him. "Well, now that's done and finished, I'll be leaving." She waited to see if he'd protest, and when he nodded – which surprised her greatly – she dropped off the balcony and flew over to the middle school admin block, where she found Hikaru and Akira in uniforms being escorted down the halls.

"Mikan-Neechan!" Hikaru cried, hauling herself across the distance between them. Mikan caught her, smiling and laughing. "I can't believe I'm actually here. With you. And Akira." She squealed, sounding and acting like a nine year old for the first time since they'd encountered.

"And, in a _uniform_." Mikan added, smirking mischievously. "Of course we can't forget Akira. He's in a uniform too." Mikan looked up, locking eyes with Akira by accident. Secret messages of the past flashed between them, and Mikan found herself laughing hysterically. "You're alive!" She cried, dropping to her knees and almost dropping Hikaru. "You're alive…" she shook her head. Glancing back up at him with wet eyes. "Tell me how. _How_ are you alive?"

Akira blinked, clearly taken aback. "Once I sent you here, they found me. They healed me, and took me to the base at your hometown, because it was close. I was going to break out, and Hikaru stopped me. It was like seeing you from when you were little. From that first time I saw you. I knew instantly, I knew she had to be related to you." He smiled, looking at her "So I stayed, and watched her. When she noticed me she got annoyed about my constant following her. She demanded answers, so I gave them to her.

"I told her all about you, about AAO and Gakuen Alice. Then we made a plan to break out and come here, to find you. Then the next day you show up with those two. I thought I was hallucinating, I swear."

"I—" Mikan started, but was cut off as an alarm sounded. "What's that?" she asked, wincing as the noise beat at her ears.

"Lockdown alarm. Someone's loose in the school." Natsume said, looking around. "I bet it's Reo." He muttered, turning back in time to see Mikan smashing through a window. "Mikan!" he called, rushing to the window with the others in tow. He turned to Akira, irritated. "Does she do that often? She seems to _enjoy_ smashing through glass into open air."

"Yeah, it's a talent of hers." He muttered, shaking his head. "She could never take to stairs or use doors like normal people." He laughed then, watching her spread her wings. "I'm going to go help her."

Mikan flew through the air towards where she'd left Reo with the principle. She wondered, mildly, if Reo had somehow incapacitated the principle. A savage bubble of hope popped into her head: maybe he was _dead._ If the principle was dead, then she could kill Reo, say it was an accident, and solve two of her biggest problems in one day.

The odds weren't good, though. The principle was strong. But then again, so was Reo. Reo would have had to at least injure the principle to escape – and he had escaped, obviously, or else the lock down alarm wouldn't be blaring.

She landed on the windowsill and tried to keep her last meal where it belonged. The principle was dead on the floor, and blood was everywhere – the carpet was soaked in it, and the walls and ceiling were painted in it. The principle's body was older, too, like time had finally caught up with him.

Reo, however, was nowhere to be seen. His ropes were on the ground, blood stained and broken like everything else in the room. _What the hell happened?_ She wondered in disgust, dropping from the windowsill to escape the strong smell of death.

She landed and looked around, thinking of escape routes Reo might try to use. The main one and most obvious would be for him to escape through the main gate, but he couldn't get there. Unable to think of any immediate escape routes, she flew to the top of the building so she could watch the exits and wait for him.

She heard a scream and cursed, listening as more screams filled the building in a trail. Kicking open a window on the second floor – where the screams were coming from – she folded up her wings, preparing to fight. It was likely that Reo had taken control of several people with his Alice, which meant he had hostages – and she couldn't kill them. _Damn._ She thought, scowling.

She walked with haste down the halls, checking each room as she did so. She felt disgusted when she saw that in nearly every room there were more dead people, albeit not as gruesome as the principle's had been. Someone behind her gasped and she spun around just in time to dodge a knife being hurled at her head.

Reo stood, covered in blood, holding a suitcase. "I should thank you, Mikan." He growled before he burst into menacing laughter. "Remember that curse Alice stone you once gave me? Well, with this stone," he held up a hand to show the black stone in the sentre as mist stared seeping off it and surrounding Mikan. She could not move. "I curse you to remain under the schools service _forever_. We'll see how valuable they are too you then, eh?" she smiled pleasantly, mist from the curse still trying to get past Mikan's nullification to curse her with his words."I got all the revenge I needed, and I got all of his mission files. And there's –"

She didn't stop to listen to him rant; she raised a hand and set him on fire. He screamed out in agony and fell to the ground, rolling to try and extinguish himself. Despite the pleasure she felt at watching him writhe in pain on the floor, the noise he was making was too horrible for her to deal with. The mist surrounding her disappeared.

Taking kindness from some deep crater of her heart, she used an Alice she'd only used once before, the Death Alice. She put out the fire and stood, staring down at his burnt body as he twitched for the last time. Curious, she cautiously stepped forward and pulled the briefcase from his blistered fingers, glad to see he made no move to stop her.

Of course he didn't move. He was dead, after all.

She took a few steps back from his body and opened the briefcase. All that was inside was paper. Mission files, as he'd said. The horror movie scene of the principal's office still swirled through her mind, along with it many questions. _How was there so much blood?_ She demanded, shaking her head in disgust.

Sure, maybe Reo had hit an artery – but even then, the blood _should_ have been limited to the immediate area surrounding the principle, not up the walls and on the ceiling. The other bodies she'd seen looked like they'd been beaten to death, which was just as horrible. Although several of them had been almost as gruesome as the principle's demise.

Had he done it all with that knife? If he had – and she did assume he _had_—then he must have _purposely_ spread blood on the walls, which left a more simple and disturbing question: Why? Did he just want to leave a gruesome trademark of death so no one could forget him? He must have known, then, that Mikan was going to come for him – to kill him.

That meant he had something planned for Mikan, too. But what? She felt relief wash through her when she realized he must have been getting ready to do… well, whatever it was he was going to do. Luckily she'd already tired of his voice and stuck to immediately disabling him.

_Some relief that is. My own cruel instincts crushed his._ She thought, smirking despite herself. She listened now, staying completely silent, for signs that others might be near and possibly still alive – she could help them, she'd stolen a healing Alice back at AAO.

When she heard nothing, she decided to go back over the rooms and check pulses, which she did _not_ look forward to. It was necessary, and the right thing to do. Using the healing Alice, though, always cost her strength and speed. It was one of those few Alice's that actually drained her, because she'd _stolen_ it, not copied it. When she copied an Alice – usually – the Alice's energy drain would be taken from the original owner of the Alice. When she stole them they became _hers_, and they took her energy with them upon use.

Entering the first room, she found one man with his head on his desk and another man slumped against the wall with an already-purple swollen eye. There was no blood, though, so chances looked good for them – and her stomach.

The first man proved to be alive and simply unconscious from his blow to the head, while the second man was dead – Reo had smashed his nose in, and the bone had ridden up into his brain. An instant death – he did not suffer.

Doors swung open and she retreated into the hall to see Natsume, Hotaru, Akira and Hikaru leading a medical team. "In here – there's a guy still alive, just knocked out." She called, motioning with her hand. The doctors rushed forward – all of them avoiding Reo's blistered red body – and rushed into the room.

They saw the man who was dead and left him there to be dealt with later, with two others put the unconscious man on a stretcher and rushed out of the building.

A hand grabbed her arm and she spun around, ready for a surprise attack – at Natsume. "Natsume? What? Why are you looking at me like that?" she demanded, glaring at his horror-struck face.

He mildly noted – and took pleasure – that she called him by his first name. "Your arms… and neck… what is that?" he asked, stepping forward.

Immediately she saw what he was talking about – curse marks. "SHIT!" she screamed, clawing at her arm. "He got me! I thought, but… nullification!? How!?" remembering his words, she wondered what would happen if she simply _burned_ the school down. "Curses are suppose to fade when the owner of the Alice dies." She snapped, glaring at her arms and wondering what her neck would look like. Who knows where else they got her?

They were the curse marks she recognized from her own use to many other people. They looked cool, like an exotic tattoo. Lots of flame-like swirls running up and down her arms under the gloves. They were black but out lined and speckled with bits of orange. Pulling off her gloves she wasn't surprised to find them spiking out from her fingers onto her fingernails, where they became orange with no black.

"Reo doesn't have a curse Alice. He must have used a stone." Natsume said, stepping forward to examine her arms.

Mikan stiffened, realizing the intelligence of his plan. "My stone. I stole that Alice a while ago – and gave him a stone. _I'm_ the Alice's owner. It's _my_ curse, and it's been used against me. It will only go when I die." She cursed loudly and spat at his body, wishing she'd tortured him more. "That's how it got around my defense – it was my curse, so it was _welcomed_. Smart ass bastard."

"We'll think of a way to get rid of it. Don't worry." Natsume reassured her, glancing around. "We should go help for now. Or maybe you should go to the hospital."

Mikan shook her head, protesting. "No, I'll help. I'm fine – just a little curse."

Natsume didn't believe her, but he nodded and they went together to follow the medical teams.

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**Thanks for reading! Reviews appreciated!**


	11. The Right Feeling

**Sorry this chapter took so long to write - I didn't know what to put into it, because (possible spoiler, albeit it doesn't**** give _too_ much away,) personally, I think i SUCK at writing mushy love scene's. Like, I really, _really_ suck at romance, but i absolutely love reading it :x**

**Anyway, here's chapter eleven, sorry for the wait, and I hope you like it!  
**

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**11**

Mikan's eye twitched for what had to be the fiftieth time that minute while she tried not to scream out in discomfort, if not pain. She was back in her dorm now, by herself. She could feel Akira and Hikaru just outside her door, though – they were spying on her, although they probably considered it 'checking up on.'

They'd seen the curse marks, and they wanted to help.

_Everybody_ had wanted to help, but none of them had the power to do anything. Mikan was still dumbfounded as to how she'd go about removing the curse – if she couldn't defeat her own curse, she had little hope that anyone else could. That would make that person more powerful then she, which was ridiculous.

She'd considered a counter-curse, but she couldn't use counter-curse's, her Alice wouldn't allow two curse's to b placed on one body. She'd need somebody else to do a counter-curse, and she wasn't sure what sort of toll those actions would take on the Alice's user. If it was her at risk, she could take the chances, but not with someone else.

At the present time, as she lay back in the lush blades of grass that was her carpet, eating Howalon while she contemplated. Outside, she heard the footsteps of two others and felt the presence of Hotaru and Anna. They conversed with Akira and Hikaru before knocking on the door.

"Come on in." Mikan called, still staring aimlessly at the ceiling. "By the way, Akira, Hikaru – it's horribly rude to eavesdrop on a person in their own personal space. Next time at least knock or something." She sighed, still staring at the ceiling.

"You knew we were there?" Hikaru asked in a disappointed and guilt ridden tone, placing herself neatly beside Mikan, staring at the Howalon. "What are those?"

Mikan tossed one to her. "Of course I knew you were there. And they're called Howalon, you eat them. They're wonderful." She tossed one to Akira, Anna and Hotaru too, before sliding her container full of them back under her bed, where they remained safe behind a barrier Alice. "Is there any particular reason you're here?"

"Hotaru wanted to check up on you, and I was going to ask if you were coming to class today." Mikan looked at her, realizing that they were all in uniform and it was about lunch time.

"Oh," she sat up, blinking. "I totally forgot, I was lost in my thoughts." She scratched her head, shrugging. "Sure, I don't see why not. I'll get dressed and meet you there, I guess." She stood up and stretched, yawning. "I'll see you there."

She made her way across the room to her closet as she heard the door shut behind her friends and sister. She put her uniform on and went to the bathroom to fix her hair before she made her way to class. When she arrived, no teachers were there and most of the class was out of control, as per usual.

"What's the point of coming to class if there's no teacher?" She demanded, taking her seat between Hotaru and Natsume. Hotaru was working on another strange invention, and Natsume appeared to be sleeping. "Personally, I find that sitting in my room doing nothing is more interesting than sitting in this uncomfortable chair and doing nothing." She said, earning Hotaru's attention. "What are you making now?"

"A sewing machine." She said, leaning back and pulling out some sort of robotic body from under the desk. "Sort of." She attached the piece of machinery she'd been working on to the machine, it was a hand. "It's a dress making robot." She said, sitting it up. "Instead of buying a dress and wasting good money, she'll make me one that better than any at the shop."

"What do you need a dress for?" she asked, poking the robot in what she assumed was the cheek. There was a button on its forehead. "It's almost Christmas. If you wanted a dress, I could have bought one for you easily."

She shrugged. "I like making things. This way was more convenient." She turned her head. "A dress for the Christmas ball. I've already got a mask. Have you got a dress yet? It's next week, and central town closes for three weeks tomorrow."

Mikan snorted, shaking her head. "Why would I go to a _ball_?" she asked incredulously, shaking her head. "That would be completely pointless. I've got more pressing matters to attend to, like how I'll rid myself of this curse." She held her hand up for emphasis.

"You're not going?" her brow creased slightly. "I want you to come."

"I'm not going to central town, and I haven't got a dress. I can't go." She insisted, disappointing herself as she said it. She'd been banned from leaving the immediate area, meaning she couldn't go to central town and buy a dress even if she wanted to. Which, oddly enough, she did.

"I can make the robot make you one. That's not a problem."

Mikan frowned. "What about shoes and a mask? I haven't got the necessities, alright? Leave it, I don't want to go." She sat back in her chair to find Natsume watching her. "Got a problem, Hyuuga?" she snapped, frowning harshly.

He continued watching her before he shrugged and placed his manga back on his face, ignoring her question and her presence all together.

"If you don't come to the Christmas ball, I'll blackmail you until your reputation is a bad as Sumire's." Hotaru threatened, reaching into her pocket and pulling out a pocket-sized photo album titled _Childhood_ _Blackmail Emergencies_, and opened it to the first photo. It was Mikan when she was ten, in her underwear while her grandfather brushed her hair. The younger Mikan in the photo was pouting like a little brat.

"Where'd you get those from!?" she demanded, her arm shooting out desperately but falling short of the album by inches. "That's a violation of my privacy!" she protested weakly, flushed with anger and embarrassment.

"I was in the photo too, therefore I can do whatever I want with it, and you have no say in It." she smiled sadistically. "Are you coming to the dance, Mikan?" she asked innocently, watching her friend's reaction closely.

"…I…you know, sometimes I _really_ hate you." She growled, gritting her teeth and standing to leave. "I'll go." She huffed, stalking from the room and down the hall. _Stupid, stubborn best friend and her malicious blackmailing ways!_ She hissed, shaking her head fiercely. _No way am I letting her make me a dress – she'd make it all frilly and florescent!_

She continued muttering as she wandered around the school grounds, looking which and every way trying to find something that she could torment in order to satisfy her need to cause physical harm. Luckily – but to her severe disappointment – no students were close by, and all of the birds she spotted were to pretty for her to murder for her own entertainment.

Giving up, she wandered a bit more before sliding down in front of a pretty Sakura tree, where she closed her eyes and tried to think of how she'd make herself a dress for the dance. After deciding that she'd just wear her uniform, she drifted off into oblivion.

Peaceful, and without worry.

--

Natsume arrived back at his dorm, glancing at Mikan's door before shaking his head. _It's none of my business._ He told himself, retreating to his room. That day, when they'd all gone to central town together, he'd caused her to not buy a dress for the dance, and out of guilt, he'd bought her the dress she'd been looking at.

He'd stuck it in one of her bags, too, but had she found it? Did she know it was there? Maybe she found it and decided that she didn't want something that he'd bought for her – he wouldn't blame her. He'd been a complete jerk, after all.

But all of these thoughts raised a more pressing issue –

"_Why_ should _I_ care!?" he growled furiously, leaning against his bed post. It didn't make sense to him – he didn't care about anyone in the academy but Ruka and his little sister. His little sister had lost her powers and left, though, which left Ruka, his best friend.

So why did he always find himself thinking – no, _worrying_ about that Sakura women? She didn't matter, she was a complete idiot. She was stupid, stubborn, annoying, moody, fast, strong, brave, selfless, beautiful… "What am I thinking!?" He fumed, cutting off his thoughts with a fist slammed into his forehead. "Selfless? _Beautiful_? I was _insulting_ her, damn it! Those would be considered compliments!"

Still fuming and extremely discombobulated, he dropped out of his window, landing gracefully like a lithe cat. He didn't need to think about his destination, there was only one place he went when he was feeling out of it, only one place he could have peace.

He's Sakura tree, of course. **(A/N: Like, duh?)**

There, he could clear his mind and rid himself of disturbing thoughts involving that Sakura women and her unnerving brown orbs. He could stop thinking about how they sparkled in the light, making her look like an angel, framed by that beautiful chestnut hair. He'd felt that hair, its silky smoothness, like – "Ugh!" he grunted, thumping a hard fist into a wall, blacking the brick slightly. _Enough!_ He demanded, resisting the impulsive urge he had to slap himself.

As the Sakura tree came into view, he felt himself relaxing, calming. _Good old Sakura tree._ He thought, almost smiling out of pleasure. No one ever went to the Sakura tree except for him and –

"Polka!?" His snapped in disbelief before retreating out of sight for reasons unknown. _Why did I hide?_ He thought tediously, making himself feel like an idiot. Frowning, he regained his composure and made his way back to the Sakura tree. _I come here every day, I won't be hoarded off by that women._ He thought determinedly, looking above her, rather than at her.

He stopped about a meter away and looked down at her, noticing that she was asleep. His entire being seemed to react to that – his frown disappeared, her gaze softened as he viewed her sleeping face, his muscles relaxed and his legs instinctively drove him forward until he found himself seated beside her, reaching for a loose strand of hair that was about to tickle her nose.

He twisted the lock between his pointed and thumb, feeling each individual hair with an odd sense of intensity. He pushed it behind her ear and angled himself in a way that allowed him to get a good look at her innocent sleeping face.

_She looks so peaceful when she's asleep,_ he thought longingly, reaching up as if the brush her lips. _They look so soft, so –_ he froze mid thought, hid body stiffening. What was he doing? Playing with her hair, longing for her lips?

Or horrifying conclusion rushed into the forefront of his mind, blinking like a neon sign. He tried to obliderate it, but it just reformed, over and over again:

_I'm in love with Mikan Sakura._

--

Yawning, Mikan rolled over, snuggling closer to the warmth. She must have left the window open, because cold night winds were brushing at her cheeks, spraying her hair out along her pillow. She'd never felt as comfortable or as safe as she did in that moment. She didn't know why – she didn't care, she was finally contempt.

She had her sister, Hikaru. She didn't kill Akira, her brotherly figure and possibly the only reason she wasn't drive insane. She'd killed Reo and earned revenge for herself, and for her late family. And she had friends and people she could talk to, people she trusted.

Blinking her eyes open, she thought of what was missing from that thought – something valuable that she had, that she cherished but was completely oblivious to it. it didn't matter right then and there, because all she wanted to do was sleep, and hold onto the feeling of warmth and security.

Her head was raising and lowering steadily, and a soft but strong beating sound threatened to lull her back into sleep before she could find the source of her contempt. Glancing up with half closed eyes, she spotted a soft curtain of raven hair shadowy the Black Cat's serene unconscious face.

He was leaning against her bedpost, his legs under the covers. Her head was on his stomach, her arms around his waist. He had one arm holding her close, the other lay limp by his side. The rhythmic beating must have been his heart beat, and the rise and fall of his breath had been what lifted her head so gently.

Mildly, she realized that she should be disturbed, if not enraged by his intruding her room and sleeping in her bed, but it was unimportant.

What mattered was keeping this feeling, nurturing it and letting it grow. She wanted to feel safe and warm every day, not just for the one night. If that meant super gluing herself to Natsume, then she'd do it – so long as she could keep this feeling of rightness.

At the moment, at that night, everything finally felt right.

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**Thanks for reading! Reviews appreciated!**


	12. THE END

**12**

**(Day of the Christmas ball)**

Mikan woke to a cool morning breeze and sunshine. "Left the window open. Again?" She muttered, rubbing her eyes as she yawned and closed the window. She'd constantly been leaving her window open during the night, but she could never remember it. It didn't matter – waking up to chirping birds and sunshine wasn't so bad.

"Christmas tomorrow. Swell." She yawned again, willing herself to get up. Waking up to sunshine was a great way to wake up, sure. But waking up still sucked pretty bad.

With the Christmas ball staring at five and the time already one in the afternoon, she couldn't trust herself to wake up on time. She'd decided to be quick about the ball – in and out, no need for a fancy dress.

She sat up and froze when two piercing violet eyes met her brown orbs. "It's about time." Hotaru muttered, glaring hard as she flipped her baka-gun over in her hands. "Another thirty minutes, and I might have used this."

"What are you doing here?" she demanded, surveying the room to ensure no other intruders were situated nearby. "You'd scared the crap out of me, Hotaru. You could have at least said _hello_, so I knew you were there."

"That would spoil the fun of surprising you." She said, standing. "I'll be watching you closely until you go to sleep, to make sure I don't have to pull out those childhood photo's." she contemplated then plucked something from Mikan's bedpost. "It's a nice dress. Maybe a little flashy."

Mikan frowned. "But I didn't buy a dress, I wasn't going to wear one." She said, strolling over to Hotaru's side with renewed energy and suspicion. "Oh…" she trailed off, examining the black silk. "I remember that dress! I was going to buy it, but then Hyuuga went and opened his mouth and convinced me to stick it back. I didn't buy it."

"Well, who cares? It's here now, so you're wearing it." Hotaru raised her baka-gun when Mikan prepared to protest. "I saw the white shoes and gloves, and your mask, too. You'll be wearing them." She said simply.

Mikan found herself frowning once more. "But I didn't buy gloves or a mask."

"Doesn't matter. They're here now, which makes them yours." She walked over to the closet and picked up a white bag before turning to make her way to the bathroom. "Because only the Special star students get personal bathroom's the dorm bathroom is packed with girls already. I'm getting ready here. I invited Anna and Nonoko over, too." She shut the door behind her, clicking the lock in place.

Mikan blinked, dumbfounded, still staring blankly at the now closed bathroom door that Hotaru hid behind. Shaking her head in a clearing motion, she shrugged off her confusion and gathered up the gear Hotaru had mentioned. The black silk dress really was pretty, that's why she'd liked it when she saw it at central town.

She smiled slightly and flitted over to her closet. She reached inside and pulled out a white belt, roughly the same shade as her shoes and gloves. The mask she loved – it was a simple black with white and gold butterflies and feathers on the right eye. It was a whole outfit, and all she'd purchased was the shoes.

She heard a known on the door and went to let Nonoko and Anna in.

--

Natsume smirked to himself smugly as the wind played with his hair. Ruka and Tobita were dressed in the suits the school had handed out to the boys, and were laying on the floor of his dorm reading Naruto and Special A.

He'd found the dress he'd bought Mikan in an untouched bag at the bottom of her closet, so he'd gone out of his way to buy her some gloves to cover her curse marks and a mask that would suit the rest of her outfit. Hotaru had ensured him that she'd been going, although it'd cost him 10,000 rabbits.

"What are you thinking about, Natsume?" Ruka asked, sounding somewhat concerned. "I've never seen you that way – you look dazed." He noted, narrowing his eyes. "What did you do?"

Natsume frowned. "What makes you think I did anything?" he asked, still frowning as he defended himself against Ruka's prying. He hadn't been paying attention to his expression; he'd been too pleased with himself.

"You looked pleased." He said flatly. "Nothing pleases you, so I thought something must have happened. I just assumed you'd done something that'd made you happy. Was I wrong?"

Natsume shrugged, turning his head to his opened window, where he could just hear the girls next door fussing about. He almost laughed as he imagined how Mikan would be when Hotaru insisted she wore lipstick – that was part of their deal.

"I just have a feeling." He said absently, picking up his mask. His was black with pointy cat ears – Ruka got it for him. "The principle's dead, same with Reo. Personna's been locked away so he won't be causing any trouble – Mikan blocked his Alice." He turned to them with a smile, not trying to hide it. "Why wouldn't I be happy, Ruka? In two years we're out of here, back to our families, never looking back at this place."

"What about Reo's curse on Mikan? She could be stuck here forever – all because she prevented him from getting loose and killing more innocent people. With his Alice's, he could have taken control of all of us, except for her. Yet she's the only one who pays the price. Her and the poor people who died." Ruka said, pursing his lips.

"No, no. Sakura-chan can ask Sano sempai to cat a counter-curse on her. He's Alice is the Curse Alice, too, and he's very strong." Tobita noted, joining the conversation. "Mikan will be fine." He smiled "We'll all be fine."

Ruka thought, then nodded. "You're right. It feels weird, though. Like the moment we relax something will go wrong again, and we'll all be thrown into the middle of another AAO versus GA battle again."

"We'll just beat them up again." Natsume said, turning to his bedside clock. "We may as well leave. It's 4:30pm."

Tobita and Ruka nodded, putting away their manga's as they followed Natsume out the door.

--

Mikan rubbed the bare skin on her shoulder, feeling very awkward as she did so. Hotaru had forced lipstick onto her, and tied a white ribbon around her neck. "I feel ridiculous." She muttered, shaking her head.

"Then why are you smiling?" Hotaru inquired as Anna nudged her shoulder.

Mikan grinned widely and gave a delighted giggle. "Because I'm extremely happy right now. This is awesome." She stated, like it was the most obvious thing in the world.

"Wow, everything looks so pretty." Nonoko said as they entered the ball room. She was right – it was beautiful. They'd used some strange Alice's to make it look like it was snowing in doors, and there was a giant Christmas tree in the middle of the hall. Candles lined the east and west walls and at the north was a stage for the teachers to speak at. Girls and twirled in circle while their masked men stepped after them.

"They're all dancing the Waltz." Mikan observed, sighing in relief. "I know that dance – thank god." She smiled looking around. "It's hard to tell who's who – all the boys are wearing the same thing, and all the girls are wearing masks and make up."

"That's the point, baka." Hotaru said, grabbing her hand. "Let's go dance." Hotaru tugged Mikan's arm, guiding her into the middle of the mass of dancing students. People looked at them strangely, but they smiled and continued to dance happily. No one would guess who they wore – Mikan Sakura and Hotaru Imai never smiled and laughed, at least not in public. They continued dancing beside the Christmas tree in the middle, carefree as everyone else.

Natsume and Ruka sat perched in the branches above them, watching the dancers with total indifference. They were both looking for people – Hotaru and Mikan, of course. Ruka had liked Hotaru the blackmail queen ever since she entered the academy, and he'd confessed to her at the start of the year. She hadn't replied though, at all. She didn't return his feelings, but she didn't condemn them, so there was still hope.

Natsume was going to confess. He was no coward, he was Natsume Hyuuga, the black cat, all the girls liked him and he didn't talk to anyone he didn't want to. Just because he'd been acting different and suddenly active in social activities around the school didn't change that one bit – he was still Natsume, and he wanted Mikan.

He frowned again, tearing his eyes from the door when he heard familiar giggling. She was close, he could hear her, he just couldn't see her. Following the sound, he's eyes passed over a girl in a pruple gown with short black hair, dancing with Mikan. It was obvious to him – he'd bought her dress and mask.

That meant to girl in purple was… "Ruka, Hotaru's right there." He said, nudging Ruka and inclining his head in their direction. "With the black and white girl."

Ruka's eyes brightened as he made his way down the tree skillfully, looking like a masked monkey wearing a tux. "Thanks." He mouthed briefly before dropping down beside the dancers, scaring them to a halt. He began speaking to Hotaru, then Mikan, then Hotaru, and then he waited.

Mikan smiled and nodded, shoving Hotaru away. Hotaru seemed to protest, but Mikan shook her head and slipped into the crowd while Ruka took Hotaru's hand. Hotaru smiled a little, nodding. They danced.

Natsume smirked smugly, looking away from the now happy dancers and turning to follow his Cinderella's path through the crowd with his hungry crimson eyes. He spotted her opening the door to outdoors just before she slipped out of sight. Frowning, he dropped from the tree to follow.

--

Mikan Sighed, leaning back in the grass under one of the many Sakura tree's in the garden outdoors. She didn't know what to do – she was _bored_. With everything done and solved, she no longer had any goals to fulfill, nor anything to worry about.

_Guess I'll just have to study hard and get rich._ She smirked, chuckling a little. She couldn't picture herself sitting in an office or at a conference table, haggling with business tycoon's over god only knows what. "No office working. I'll… maybe a pilot? I know a bunch of languages, and I could probably use the wings to my benefit… perhaps… skydiving instructor?"

"Definitely not." A familiar voice chided from behind her. She didn't need to turn to know that it was Natsume who sat himself down beside her. "I can't see you jumping out of a plane with someone strapped to you, it would be inappropriate."

Mikan's cheeks heated slightly, and she felt very awkward all of a sudden. "What I do with my life doesn't concern you, Hyuuga." She drawled, to content to snap out witty remarks. She didn't want to fight with Natsume, she just wanted to breathe easy and not have to run after some evil AAO member.

"No yet it doesn't," he muttered, pulling his mask off.

Mikan blinked. "Excuse me?" she asked, removing her own mask. "I didn't catch that – mind repeating it?" She'd obviously misheard. What would he mean by 'not yet'? Her future didn't concern him 'yet'? _Pfft, as if, this is Hyuuga we're talking about._

"Nevermind." He said, watching her with an odd sparkle in his eyes. Mikan met his gaze, treating it as a staring competition. His eyes intrigued her, both the color and the path inside of them. Usually she'd only see that sort of red when she was cut and bleeding. "What do you think of me?" he asked abruptly.

"I'm sorry, what?" she asked, baffled.

"What do you think of me?" he repeated, still watching her intently.

"Uh… what do you mean? What do I…" she frowned, trailing off. What did she think of him? He was no longer the enemy, he was an ally. Was that it? Maybe a friend. A good friend. Her best friend – not including Hotaru, of course. "You're a great friend. I like you, even though you piss me off with your arrogant attitude." That statement didn't fit right with her stomach.

The corner of his lip twitched upwards. "I like you too." He said, tilting his head to get a better look at her as her cheeks heated to an unnatural degree. "But I wonder, what sort of _like_ do you mean when you say that?"

Mikan frowned, trying to cool her cheeks down without making it obvious that she was blushing. _Can he tell? Why am I… what did he mean?_ "I like you – as a friend, you know. We've been through a lot, and you've helped me out heaps. I owe you my happiness." She smiled. "and what do you mean, Natsume?"

He broke out in a grin. "Sit up for a second. I think someone's listening, I have to tell you something secret. I'll whisper it." He stuck a hand on her shoulder, helping her up.

She stiffened, growing paranoid. _Is it the AAO? Persona? No – AAO can't get in here, and Persona locked up._ "Who is it? Where are they?" She whispered, sitting up immediately.

Natsume pulled her closer, getting right up to her ear. "No one, but I think there's something on your lip – let me have a look." He whispered, turning her head so she was staring into his eyes. Blushing furiously, she made to pull away. Before she could do so, he placed his other hand at the nape of her neck, holding her there. "Yeah, I was right. Don't worry, I'll get it off…"

"Wha—," Her eyes popped open wide as she felt Natsume's lips crush into hers, causing her to gasp. He slipped his tongue out, then retreated a distance back, still holding her face.

"I got it off." He said, smirking at her dumbstruck expression. "You asked what I meant when I say 'I like you'? That's what it means."

"I-I… don… w..what…?" she stuttered, unable to form a coherent sentence. _Natsume just kissed me – what!? What!? What is this! Why'd he do that?? _"…eh…."

"Ah, didn't the message come across? I'll try again." He pulled her face forward again, pressing his lips to hers again. This time, when he pulled back he left their noses touching. "It means 'I love you', Mikan Sakura."

_It mean I love you, Mikan sakura. It means I love you, Mikan sakura. It means…_ the line bounced around in her head furiously, imprinting on every surface it hit before it multiplied and filled the empty space. "I…" _I what? What do I say to that? What should I do!?_

She closed her eyes, pulling away again. This time, he let her go. "I'm…not…" she said, trying to think up a reply. _How do I… reply? If I tell him I only think of him as a friend would he hate me? Would he be hurt by that? Would I be okay with that…?_

"Mikan?" he said cautiously, as if he was preparing for the worst.

"Uh…" she thought harder. _No, I don't want to… what does that mean? What does it mean that I don't want to turn him away?_

"I'll give you some time, if you want. You don't have to reply yet, we've got time." he made to stand up, only to be yanked back down by Mikan's firm hand. Glancing down, he found her staring at the ground. "Mikan…?"

Mikan's head slowly turned until she faced him. "You love me…?" she repeated, sounding more confused than any girl should. He nodded, and she smiled widely, pushing her lips into his. She pulled away. "I think I love you too, Natsume Hyuuga." She said cheerfully, smirking. "But we'd better confirm it."

She pushed him to the grass, sliding his hair before securing the raven strands firmly in her palm. Kissing him for the fourth time that night, she pulled away with a look of firm determination.

"There's no doubt about it, Cat boy." She kissed him again. "You're stuck with me."

**THE END**

**

* * *

****Well, that's it, the last chapter. Personally, I think it could have been done better, but I liked it, and I hoped you did, too! ^.^ **

**I'm going to start another story, too, soon, of Gakuen Alice. I'll post the first chapters (or whatever I've written so far) for the next chapter, so go ahead and read them, then vote in the poll. I'll give it… a week, tops, before I start writing :D **

**The first one is when they're all finished school, and it may or may not contain their actual having Alice's – at the moment I think It'll just be a bunch of business daughters and son's hooking up and causing trouble for everyone around them, you know, the usual – Mikan and Natsume warring against each other in a battle for dominance. This time, though, I'm not sure if I'll stick em' together as a couple. I haven't given it a name yet, either.**

**The second is also older, but only in high school. Natsume and the other (not Mikan) are all the offspring of rich people, again, and they all go to the elite school Gakuen Alice, of course! They're all top students, so they get cool privileges, Natsume ranks Number one, typical, I know. Then we throw in a scholar ship student Mikan whats-her-last-name who's poor and boyish, back talks to her '**_**superiors**_**' as Natsume would say, and she's totally not suited for the elite school – and to top it off, she got better marks then Natsume. Ohhh, the struggle. :D no name yet either. **

**So that's them ^.^ I'll post the first chapters of each on the next page, and you can vote on my profile if ya want ^.^ **


	13. For the poll, new stories

**Alright – we'll call the first one (just for now, I mean…) err… Graduation? Yeah, that'll do. When/if you vote in the poll, this story will be known as 'Graduation' just for the vote, though. **

**If there's something you want me to put in the story – a little scene or something, you know, or maybe even a character (so long as you put in the details : a name and gender, etc.) if you'd like, then I'll try and fit it in ^.^ If you'd like to do that, just leave a comment, I guess -.^**

(Mikan POV)

Hello, my names Sakura Mikan. I'm 17 years old, having just graduated from high school. My father owns a multimillion dollar corp. called 'Sakura Industries', and I have three older brothers. My mother was always the missing family member. She died giving birth to me, which is why I'm the youngest in the family. I don't feel sad, but I wish I could have met her. From what my brothers and father tell me, I was exactly like her.

Needless to say, growing up in a house full of smelly hyperactive guys, I may lack a few essential feminine _qualities_. According to my _loving_ brothers, the only things female about me are my hormones, my appearance, and my unconscious ability to attract men; although I work hard to avoid the latter.

My eldest brother is now 23, his name is Hayate. Next is Youichi, he's 22. And then the youngest of my siblings is Tsubasa at the age of 21. I was thirteen when dad died. Hayate, being eldest, had taken over the business as Izumi's heir. When Youichi and Tsubasa graduated, they also took their places at the company.

Each of them was in charge of three of the four different areas of the company. Hayate handled the complicated stuff that made you think, because he was smarter than the other two. Youichi handled advertising and business communication, because he was the more sociable of the three. Well, not necessarily the more sociable, they were all friendly and chatty; but Youichi was the only one who could stay serious and focused on the main topic. Tsubasa worked on one section of the goods; sports equipment, clothing, etc, etc. There wasn't much the company didn't do.

What was left was designing and modeling. I, of course, was to be assigned to that when I choose to join the busy work chain. Because I'm the more creative of the four of us and the only one that could draw a straight line, the job was ideal for me. As for the modeling aspect, I wasn't required to model myself, but to select models and present them the way I saw fit. Modeling isn't something I think I'm capable of; I'd surely snap and attack the photographer.

So, here I am now, driving home from the car shop in my new car. It's a red Telsa Roadster, (Picture here: . ) and the speed is incredible. Nothing compares to the exhilaration of the feelings of absolute freedom. Of course, I was not alone. My brothers were behind me in their own vehicles.

Hayate was behind me in his white Toyota FT-HS, (Picture here: (Interior) . , better pic here: )his stereo up so loud that I could hear it faintly over the gushing wind.

Behind Hayate, Youichi kept a good ten meters of distance in his silver Saab Aero-X (Picture here: ) and Tsubasa right behind him in a good old fashioned red hot Ferrari (Picture here: /yahoo_site_admin/assets/images/red_ferrari.279200051_ )

It was a family tradition that Izumi started when he was alive. Each time one of us graduated, the said graduate would go with him and the other graduates to pick out any car they wanted, so long as it was affordable. But then what wasn't affordable to Tokyo's most successful compny? I was the last graduate, obviously, being four years younger than each of my brothers. I was the only one that Izumi didn't accompany. It was sort of depressing, but I could deal with it knowing my brothers would stick with me.

Alongside buying a car, the other family members became responsible for throwing a killer all night long party for the graduate. They were in charge of guest lists, decorations, special events, entertainment, presents, and public humiliation. Yes, public humiliation.

The party was like a war. The sides? Newbies vs. Oldies. In other words, the new graduate and anyone who hasn't graduated and is considered family, pitted against the elders. Which meant it was me against them, all by my lonesome self, unless Hotaru felt pity for me. The challenge was simple: The elders would plot a series of attacks designed to humiliate the victim, while the victim strides to _not_ be humiliated. Youichi, being the most intelligent, was the only one to ever succeed in not being humiliated. Which left me with little hope.

Pressing the button on my keychain, the electric gates swung open and we zoomed through, Tsubasa closing them with his key. We lived in a mansion on top of a large hill up in Tokyo. The house was big and white, in short, very beautiful.

Pulling into my new place in the garage, I turned off the car, grinning widely as I slid my sunglasses up into my windblown hair. My brother pulled into their assigned places, also, wide grins spread across their ecstatic faces.

(Normal POV)

"I love it!" Mikan cried, jumping up and down while clutching her keys for bitter life. "I've never felt so free, nothing's ever been so exhilarating before!" she declared, kissing her key chain.

Hayate, Tsubasa and Youichi watched her in amusement, all of them understanding what she was saying perfectly. Originally, they'd assumed it was a guy thing, but now they were under the impression that speed was simply in the families blood. It was a rare occurrence for them to see their sister act female, so no one interrupted her as she squealed gleefully over her new toy.

She never squealed like that for Barbie dolls.

Hayate draped an arm over Mikan's shoulder while Tsubasa closed the garage door. Youichi was on his cell, nodding and smiling. "You're party's tonight, Mikan. And you'll be wearing a dress." Hayate said, shoving a hand over her mouth before she could protest. "Dad said you had to wear a dress, we have evidence if you'd like to read the letters again." He smirked.

"High heels, make-up, jewelry and a glamorous dress. I can't wait to see that!" Tsubasa crowed, poking Mikan in the forehead. "Don't even think about sneaking jeans under the dress, either, kiddo. I'll have one of the maids check." He joked.

Mikan scowled. "How the hell... oh, you were joking. Shit." Hayate and Tsubasa laughed at having uncovered her plan accidently. "Why do I have to wear a frilly little dress? I don't _own_ any dresses, idiots. And you know I suck at shopping!" she snapped, not happy but unable to be happy as she leaned against her Telsa Roader.

"Be happy," Youichi said, closing his phone. "Instead of forcing you into a limo we'll let Hotaru drive you to the party. She'll be here in about five minutes; you'll be going shopping with her." He said, smiling happily. "You're booked in at a beautician as well. I can't wait to see you with a manicure."

Mikan grimaced. "This sucks, you know." She muttered, pouting. "Why can't it be like my birthday parties? I hate black tie events, and you know it."

"It's tradition, dear sweet sister." They said in unison, placing hands over their hearts and closing their eyes. Mikan scowled. It felt like she'd heard that same line over and over again during the past few days, successfully driving her insane.

"Whatever," she muttered, sliding into the driver's seat as she heard Hotaru's Aston Martin (Picture here: . ) coming up through the gates. Since Hotaru was a regular visitor, Mikan had given her a key to the gate.

Hotaru pulled into the spare parking space and killed the motor, sliding out of her seat with her vintage black hand bag before locking the car and strolling over to Mikan. Hotaru, unlike Mikan, was perfectly lady like. She was wearing a dark purple pleated mini skirt with a long sleeved black shirt, and black heels. And her shoulder length purple streaked black hair was brushed out neatly. Simple, elegant and stunning.

Mikan, however, was wearing baby blue jeans, a black tee-shirt and skate shoes with a backpack to carry her things, and knotty brown hair that tangled halfway down her back. Yet strangely enough, the two were inseparable best friends.

"Nice ride, Mikan." Hotaru said, giving a small smile of approval as her eyes took in the red masterpiece. "Let's go, it's already 10, I've got to get you to the beautician by 12. She's going to put you in the dress, shoes, all accessories, do your hair, make-up, and manicure all in one. It's a pity she can't mend your personality, too."

Mikan huffed. "I'll ignore that last bit. Hop in, then. The quicker we get this over with the better." Mikan sighed, starting the car to drive to the mall.

--

Upon arriving, Hotaru grabbed Mikan's arm and lead her straight to a formal dress shop. "Aren't they pretty?" Hotaru asked in her emotionless but somehow excited voice. She was clearly looking forward to seeing what Mikan looked like as a _real_ girl.

Mikan glanced around and shook her head, shuddering at a mental image of herself wearing one of the elegant satin dresses. "I don't want pretty colors. Some black, or white. No pinks or purples." She said, scanning for something that looked decent, but coming up with nothing. They searched and searched but found nothing that suited her.

"Can I help you girls with something?" The shop assistant asked after 30 min's of unsuccessful browsing.

Hotaru nodded. "We need something for my friend here. She doesn't usually wear dresses and such." She said, pointing to Mikan. "Problem is nothing here suits her."

The girl ran over Mikan with her eyes, taking up every little detail. "You'd look good in black satin. I've got something out the back that just came in, if you'd like to have a look." Mikan shrugged and Hotaru nodded, following the women to the storage room. On a foam model was a black satin bubble dress with a loose white ribbon around the waist. The sales lady put a hand on it, and turned to face them. "What do you think?" (Picture here: )

"Gah, I can't take this Hotaru. Screw the party, I'm not wearing a dress." She snapped, stomping out of the building.

Hotaru sighed and shook her head. "I think it's perfect," she said, pulling out her money. "Never mind her, we'll take it. Thank you for your trouble." Hotaru purchased the dress and found Mikan slumped on a bench outside. "I bought the dress. Now we're getting shoes and accessories."

Mikan stood up and followed Hotaru grudgingly like a dog trapped on a lead. "I don't care anymore. Just buy whatever you think looks good. Make sure the shoes aren't something I'll break my ankles in." Mikan sighed, finally accepting the fact that she had no escape.

Hotaru smiled at this. "Okay, but I'll need to use your feet as models for the shoes. All you have to do is sit still." Mikan nodded as they walked into the shoes store, and Hotaru directed her to a chair near the wall before browsing.

It didn't take long for her to return with three different pairs of stiletto's, trying each of them onto Mikan. "I hope you know I'm going to trip down a staircase, snap my ankles and break my neck wearing those." She muttered.

Hotaru shrugged. "At least you'll look good when you ride in the ambulance." She commented. "And don't lie. I know your brothers and the maids have been forcing you to walk around in heels at home. Apparently you ever conquered the stairs."

Mikan scowled at the shoes. "My brothers are traitors. Selling out their own flesh and blood." She muttered, watching Hotaru purchase the shoes. She bought two pairs and showed them too Mikan. One were a pair of boots (Picture here: . ) and the other were simple black stiletto's with a band around the ankle. (Picture here: . )

Mikan waited outside the jewelry store, sneaking off the buy an ice cream while she waited. Hotaru showed her the necklace, earrings and bangles she bought, all of them silver. The necklace had diamond bow on it, matching the earrings, while the bangles were plain silver. She was scolded for eating ice-cream, also.

"Alright," Hotaru said, noting that she only had 15mins to drag Mikan into the salon. "Let's go." She said, yanking Mikan in the direction of the salon she'd booked out for the afternoon. "Sorry we're late," Hotaru apologized while Mikan glared, trying to scare them away. She was _not_ pleased. At all.

"Ah, no, you're just on time Miss Imai, Miss Sakura. Please follow me, Patricia is expecting you." She said, leading them into a room of mirrors with all different sorts of stations. Mikan gasped in panic. Some of the devices looked designed for torture. "Patricia, you're 12 o'clock is here." She called.

A tall blond women walked out, followed by three other's with brown, red and black hair. "I was right to call in help." The women declared, nodding to the other woman to leave. "Quick girls, we must have her fixed! Get her into her dress and shoes, immediately." She clapped her hands and the three girls lurched forward.

Mikan attempted to move back in a futile hope of escape, but Hotaru held her in place. "Mikan, I will knock you out if you try to escape." She said, glaring as Mikan whimpered. "Besides, I had them lock us in. The doors won't open until 9 o'clock. Endure."

--

Eight and a half hours later, she was nearly complete. She was dressed in the simple black stiletto's, her black bubble dress, and all the jewelry. Make-up had been easy, because Mikan was naturally beautiful. All they'd done was shade her eyes with black eyeshadow and silver sparkles, brush on mascara and eyeliner, before coating her lips in an almost natural red.

Her hair had proven to be difficult. After finally untangling everything, they found her hair actually went down just past her waist, but was all split ends. After washing and cutting it to halfway down her back, they experimented with many strange hairstyles. Eventually, they gave in, giving her simple layers and sticking a black headband in that had a little black bow on the left side. It turned out she looked better that way, anyway.

Currently, her nails were being fixed. She'd grown them out on Hayate's orders', but they were in horrible shape. After they saved her nails, they coated them in black and painted detailed white lilies on each finger. Mikan thought it was ridiculous.

Patricia lined up beside her team and Hotaru, directing Mikan to a large mirror. "My masterpiece... she's complete." She said, her voice quivering with delight. It was 10 to 9, so they didn't have time to pry. Luckily for them both, Hotaru had been smart enough to drive home and get ready before coming back for Mikan.

"I can't drive with these damn shoes on." She snapped, tossing Hotaru her keys. "If you crash and we survive, I'll murder you for my baby's sake." She muttered, sitting in the passenger side and growling as Hotaru put the roof up.

"The wind will ruin your hair." She said, still staring at Mikan. "I can't believe it's really you." She said, sighing in amazement. "You look wonderful."

Mikan narrowed her eyes, grimacing. "I hate this." She muttered, turning the stereo up to drown out her concerns. "Let's go. I've made it so far, I'm not turning back."

Hotaru smirked and started the car, speeding away to the party location.

* * *

**Okay, that's the end of the first one. The next one we'll label as… 'Scholarship', alright? So if you'd like to vote for **_**this**_** story (the next chapter) cast yout vote on 'Scholarship'. Same things apply as the first chapter – if you want me to put something/someone in the story, stick it in a comment.**

Natsume sighed, closing his eyes as the steaming hot warmed poured through his hair and over he's body. _School sucks._ He thought in dismay, just as he did every morning. It was the same routine every day: Wake up, eat breakfast, brush teeth, shower, get dressed, pack bags, call parents about business, school, work, jog, gym, more work, dinner, brush teeth, shower, sleep. And then it repeated. Over, and over again. _This is my last year…_ he thought with a sense of relief. _No more squealing girls, no more brutish guys, and no more suck up teachers._

Natsume, along with a lot of others heirs to rich businesses, went to an elite school called Gakuen Alice. It wasn't his choice, it was his duty. Everyone in his family went to Gakuen Alice, so he had to as well. There were, of course, some bonuses: He lived in a boarding house in the academy, which meant he didn't have to put up with his family. Of course, living in a boarding house meant that he had to live with nineteen others his age, and five peacekeepers, – otherwise known as teachers with nothing else to do. Most of the kids who went to Gakuen Alice stayed in boarding houses. It was more convenient.

No poor people ever got into the school, because none of them were smart enough to meet the standards for scholarships. Sure, there might have been one or two a few decades ago, before technology became so advanced.

Which brought back the rumor Ruka had told him.

Apparently, according to Sumire – whose information is always 50% lies and totally exaggerated – some poor girl with an uncanny IQ got herself in on a scholarship. She wouldn't last long, though. The kids in Gakuen Alice didn't like commoners, dirty street trash and all the sorts.

Once he was out of the shower and dressed for school in his uniform (A/N: Err, stick with the elementary school uniform in the manga/anime.) he sat on his study chair, picked up his little black IPhone, and dialed his mother's number.

"Natsume, darling. Sorry I can't talk this morning, I'm almost late for a business meeting. We'll need you at the office after school. Have fun, darling, mummy and daddy love you!" _Beep._

"That was quick. And expected." He muttered, sliding his phone shut and slipping it into his pocket. He picked up his laptop bag and strolled down stairs, not surprised to find his house mates already long gone. Everyone had planned on arriving early, to see if the rumor about a scholarship student was true. He knew better then to waste his time. even in the rumor was true, what was so interesting about one poor girl?

When he arrived at school, he saw a group of people walking around, obviously looking for something. He glanced at his watch. _Ten minutes..._ he thought. He saw Sumire's expensive perm and instantly took a side path around to the Northgate courtyard. He enjoyed sitting under the Sakura tree's to check the stock market.

Walking past a traumatized shrub, he heard hard breathing, and then a cough. Pushing aside the bush, he spotted shocked brown eyes staring up at him with pure exhaustion. "Oh crap." She murmured, dropping her head. She was wearing the uniform, which made her a student. She had a black messenger bag, but he couldn't tell what brand it was. It looked cheap. Her long brown hair was in a ponytail.

"Out of curiosity," he said, watching as her head lifted. "might I ask why you're hiding in the shrubs?" he raised an eyebrow, watching her as heat flushed cheeks grow even brighter.

"I'm hiding, obviously. Although it seems I've been discovered. You're not going to call them over, are you?" she asked, her eyes growing slightly wider in preparation for something.

Natsume kept watching her, then decided she must have been, "You're the new scholarship student?" he asked, she nodded. "I see." He nodded, releasing the shrubs so they flung back and hit her in the face. "Stay away from me, commoner."

He slid down and pulled out his laptop, propping it on his knee. He logged into his account, and began researching. It was always good to get as much work down as he could. He paid no heed to the girl that crawled out of the bushes and stood up, glancing around. She patted herself down, tightened her pony tail, moved her bag and then – just as the bell was going – strode off towards the main block like every other student.

He followed, heading to his homeroom class. Natsume had top marks; of course, he was the schools number one in athletics _and _academics. No one could match him. Of course, to top that, he was perfectly gorgeous: lean muscles, silky soft hair, and luscious drool-worthy crimson eyes.

He walked into the room and took his seat between Koko and Ruka, he's two best friends from childhood. Tsubasa and Tobita were close by. "Hey, Nat. The new kids in our class, look." Ruka said, inclining his head to the front of the room.

Narumi was standing out front, about to introduce the new girl. Natsume glanced up, surveyed her, then went back to staring out the window. She was, oddly enough, beautiful, in an ugly way. Or was it ugly, in a beautiful way? She looked beautiful, but it was easy to tell just by glancing at her that she didn't belong. She slouched, dropped her shoulders, she leant to one side and worst of all, she had a hand on her bag. "Not interested." Natsume grunted to Ruka, who shrugged and pulled out his math's books, preparing for Jinno-sensei's lesson.

"Alright, class!" Narumi said, demanding their undivided attention. "As some of you may have heard, we have a new student! This is Mikan **Nendo**, she's a scholarship student. Despite the fact that she did not pay to be here does not make her different to you though, so please treat her well." He said, smiling. He pushed her forward. "You can sit next to Hotaru Imai on the left side, second last row."

Mikan nodded, strolling down the aisle to her seat. _She even walks like a commoner._ Natsume thought, disgusted. No doubt she'd begin trying to suck up to Imai or Umenomiya, who she was sitting next to. She'd want in with the rich kids, hoping they could buy her all sorts of presents.

"Hello Imai-chan." She said, nodding. She turned and nodded to Anna, too, smiling. _Here we go,_ thought Natsume, smirking at his rightness.

"Hello, Nendo." Imai replied, nodding.

"I'm Anna Umenomiya. You can call me Anna, though. It's nice to meet you, Nendo -chan." Anna said, smiling brightly as she pushed her pink hair back behind her ears.

"You too, Anna." Mikan replied, smiling brightly. "Call me Mikan, then. I look forward to being your classmate." She said before she turned back to the front, pulling out her math books to read ahead.

_What, that's it?_ He thought, perplexed. _Shouldn't she be trying to prolong the conversation? To get in good with Umenomiya or Imai? She must have a plan. She'd have to be smart, after all._ He muttered, shaking his head and opening his text book to start reading the new unit.

When math's class was over Natsume had a self-study period. Self-study period was a privilege given to only the most trusted and most promising students. That's why only he, Nonoko, Hotaru, Tobita, Ruka, Anna, Koko, Youichi, Tsubasa, and Misaki got to skip whatever subjects that didn't want to learn, already knew or didn't need.

When he arrived at the library he nodded to the librarian and swiped his student ID in the Special-student card slip, gaining access to the elevator. Only the top ten students in the school – usually tends to be the student council – have little stars on their ID cards, identifying them as Special-star students, also allowing them access to wherever they please.

The roof was, of course, a roof, although it'd been designed as a study area. Around the edge was a glass fence, to ensure nobody fell over the edge. Then exotic trees and plants grew all over the place. There where marble stone paths through the gardens, and in the middle there was a large marble plateau. In the middle of the plateau, there was a table with ten chairs, and a large heater that warmed almost the entire roof. There were other heaters spread out, also. Around the edges there were comfortable sofas, a mini fridge that was constantly supplied with fresh water and soft drinks, and whatever else the students asked to have placed in the garden.

Natsume had his own sacred area. The other nine star students knew to stay clear from it. The Sakura tree. He'd had it planted specially. That's all it was. A medium sized Sakura tree with a soft patch of grass underneath. That's all he needed to relax and think. Thinking was of top priority. When he thought, new products, new advertising methods, new partners and anything else of importance always popped up into his mind.

So he slid down in he's usual spot, and he thought.

--

Half an hour later, he woke to the sound of absurdly loud laughter, and the voice of someone he cursed darkly: Narumi-sensei. "What's he doing here, damn it?" he growled, climbing to his feet. When he got to the source, he wasn't surprised to find the Star-students, his closest friends, standing around on the plateau. No surprise to see Narumi. It was the little poor girl that surprised him. "What's going on?" Natsume asked, yawning.

Mikan blinked, watching him. "Narumi-sensei's giving me a tour of all the place's I'll need to be familiar with." Mikan answered, smiling a strange smile.

Natsume's eyes narrowed. "What makes you think you'll need to be familiar with an area that _off limits_ to ordinary students?"

"What makes you think," Mikan countered, raising an eyebrow. "That I'm an _ordinary_ student?" she smirked at his dumbfounded expression. _Did she just back-chat me?_ He demanded in disbelief. No one ever back chatted the Hyuuga's. No one had the authority. Sure, there was, like, _one_ company that was bigger and richer then his, but Sakura Co. didn't have any heirs, and Natsume's dad was good friends with Izumi.

"You're right," he muttered. "A normal student wouldn't be wearing an untailored, second hand uniform to school. They wouldn't be as ugly as you, and they'd have to brains to keep their mouths shut when it's necessary. You're not ordinary, far from it."

Everything froze. Mikan stared at him, examining every microscopic hair that covered his body, before she raised her piercing gaze to his, where it remained. "You seem to think quite highly of yourself, Hyuuga." She said, surprising them all with a blindingly bright smile. "I don't like your attitude. Although you're probably just moody and pissed off that a commoner knocked you down to second rate, eh? It's alright. Hug your pillow tight and you'll make it through the night." She finished in an overly sweet voice, no hints on antagonism on her unnatural still-smiling-for-no-reason face.

Natsume blinked, taken aback. He wanted to laugh and shout at the same time. What an _attitude_! What gave her, a commoner, the right to oppose him, the sole heir to the second largest company in Japan? Or perhaps, it was _because_ she was a commoner. She didn't have to suck up to him and his business, because she didn't have to consider future partnerships. _How irritating…_ he thought scornfully, his eye twitching unconsciously.

Mikan winked and turned back to the others. "I hope I can join you here, after the exams, if I'm still in the top ten." She waved, striding off through the garden with Narumi close behind. "See you soon, Hyuuga!" she called out in the distance, victory radiating out of her cheerful voice.

"Damn her," he growled, thumping a fist into the centre-table. "Ruka, she didn't actually score higher than me, did she?" he demanded, turning on his bunny-like best friend.

"Err…" Ruka, took a step back, scratching his head. "Well… at the moment, yeah… but that was because of the entrance exam! That's all! I'm sure you'll beat her in the exams tomorrow. She's just a commoner, after all. Her education is secondhand. She probably won't even make the top one hundred."

"You're right." Natsume said, sighing in relief. The others stared in disbelief. Natsume had never lost his temper in front of people, or shown any sign that he could feel anything other than boredom and resentment.

"No, you're both idiots." Hotaru said, butting in. "If she got into Gakuen Alice on a scholarship, then she'd have to be the smartest student in the school. _Those _are the expectations." She said. "Although what Ruka said is partly true. If someone gets a higher score then her in the exams tomorrow, she'll probably lose her scholarship."

"Which means she'd leave. No more dirty commoner." He concluded, grinning widely and ignoring the facts Hotaru had presented about her having to be somewhat intelligent. "Brilliant."

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**Alright, cast your votes – or don't… I guess it's up to you :) Thanks for reading my story!**


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